Mark of the Fool

Chapter 749: Seven and Eight

Alexander Roth embraced the feeling burning inside him.

As energy flowed from his natural mana pool to the artificial one, the new construct blazed, filling him with more power than hed ever known. He felt like two fiery hearts were inside him, beating as one, pumping blood back-and-forth, supporting each other. The energy built, flooding his being with powerful mana, feeling more intense than ever before.

It was intoxicating, he felt himself smiling, laughing, wanting to leap off the table and sprint through the Cage bars.

I could get used to this!

The artificial mana felt even better than Professor ValRok had promised: he felt energised, like he could cast spells without stoppingeven fifth-tier ones without fear of running low on mana. He could feel his mana charging, sparking, the two pools fusing together, giving him more than enough mana to cast the complex magic circuits of seventh, eighth and ninth-tier spells.

A new door had finally opened for Alex, he was free of the Fool that had held him back, and now, his increased mana had brought him to the threshold of the most powerful levels of wizardry.

And he was ready to step through.

Alright, time to learn some new summoning spells. I want to try some seventh, eighth, and if I can cast thosethen ninth-tier spells. Ive got the mana, the higher-tier summoning guides from Brightfire, so I should have all that I need to give them a try.

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Alex was in one of the sanctum chambers, looking at a magic circle carved into the stone floor. Kelda had created a room specifically for safely summoning monsters, complete with a summoning circle that was as secure as any in the Cells. No doubt shed made it for her assistants to use.

It was perfect for Alex's purposes today.

Birger and Bjorgrund were still in the labworking on routes to herd their enemies through the sanctum. The portal to the summoning chamber was temporarily shut down for the giants' safety.

If anything nasty escapes this summoning circle, he whispered, going through the summoning spell-guides. Then it won't kill them: it'll be trapped in here and I can teleport out of here. But, just to be extra careful, maybe I should only summon things that are less likely to be hostile.

With that, he chose his first seventh-tier summoning spell.

Summon Celestial Roc.

Rocs were immense, house-sized birds of prey that looked like eagles covered in feathers as strong as steel. Their plumage was green with splashes of red, and those fiery coloured highlights were what had started legends of the creatures being distantly related to phoenixes.

As far as Alex knew, though, those tales had never been proven.

They were dangerous, with the largest specimens being capable of swooping down on an elephant and carrying it away. But, the celestial kind wasn't overly belligerent, and with their immense size, there would be little chance of one escaping the room.

Im giving myself a safeguard by summoning the biggest creature I can, Alex laughed, flipping open the book. Professor Jules would be proud. Or, the exact opposite of "proud.

He examined the spell-guide closely, studying the intricacies of the spell array.

Professor Mangal wasnt exaggerating: seventh-tier spells are on a whole different level from sixth-tier ones. The array was complicated, generating a magic circuit that was extremely complex. There were a lot of places along the circuit where things could go wrong, and the backlash from miscasting it would mean a mana reversal and worse.

But in return, its magic was amazing and worth trying.

It would take an enormous amount of mana, butin returnthe summoner would wield a titanic amount of power.

He was almost salivating to try it out.

Even without the Mark of the Fool's interference, Alex mused. I'm going to have to be really careful with this. With so many places for things to go wrong, it would stink if I got rid of the Fool only to destroy my mana pool through my own incompetence. Well, I guess careful should be my favourite word for the day.

Alex flipped open a notebook, writing a new notation:

Seventh-tier summoning spell: Summon Celestial Roc.

Beginning Progress: 0%.

Attempt 1 Progress:

He cracked his knuckles. Seeing how much trouble this spell gives me should give me an idea of whether or not I should try to break through to ninth-tier before we go after the church. If seventh is really hard, that would likely mean ninth will be too dangerous to try, or at the very least, take more time than we could have. If it's too much for me to cast, Ill just have to adjust my goals down to only trying for eighth-tier. He took a deep breath, then slowly released it. Alright, enough delaying.

Alex flipped open the spell-guide to the first page, speed-reading through the entirety of the thin book. He focused the Mark of the General on the task of memorization, learning all aspects of the spells incantation, spell array, and magic circuit.

He marvelled at the amount of detail that made up the spell, then cracked his neck and prepared to cast it for the first time.

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Taking another deep breath, he launched into his first seventh-tier spell.

He could feel his mana risingalready surging from his mana pools like a stormrushing to form the beginnings of the magic circuit. Within him, the Travellers power rose, supporting the spell. He focused the Mark on pronunciation.

No interference clouded his thoughts, his mind could concentrate on what it needed to.

But, even without a torrent of failures crushing his mindalong with the Generals supporttrying to control the power was difficult. The syllables soon became jumbled in his mouth, sticking to his tongue, and the magic circuit began warping; making him cancel the spell.

Phew! He blew out a breath. That was tricky.

The young wizard recorded his first attempt, surprised at the number.

Attempt 1 Progress: 20%.

Twenty percent from my first try! He cried. That's really good. A lot better than I expected: the Mark seems to really work well with Hannah's power. And my mana

The seventh-tier spell had taken a lot of energy to start forming the magic circuit, yet he hardly felt his reserves decrease. His artificial pool was working well. Very well indeed. He had to tell ValRok when he saw him again.

I can repeat this spell as many times as I want, he said. Let's go again.

Calling on his reserves, Alex attempted the seventh-tier spell again and again. Each time he cast it, his progress was better, he was completing another five, or even another ten percent of the spell array.

The magic circuit was complicated, but it felt more natural as he uttered the incantation.

Eventually

He felt it complete in his mana pool, flaring to life. Alexs mana and Hannah's powersped from the material world, reaching across the boundaries between realms, worlds, and planes, touching the celestial realms high above.

It reached out, nudging an ancient mind, one that was both old and proud, Alex felt something approaching him.

Moving quickly.

In less than a heartbeat, the summoning circle was filled with power.

Air shimmered, then came a deafening cry from a birds beak, echoing through the room, a great wind swept through the chamber, announcing the presence of a massive creature, snapping into being before Alex.

In an instant he was tilting his head back, looking up into the eyes of a great bird of prey.

The roc was no smaller than Birger and Bjorgrunds cottage, its green and red feathers gleaming with a metallic sheen. Its aura was imposing, looking every bit like an apex predator.

The raptor looked down at the wizard whod conjured it in silence.

Alex looked back without fear, watching its eyes closely.

Both froze.

Heartbeats passed.

The young wizard showed no fear, even as the roc puffed its feathers and scraped sword-sized talons across the stone. At last, it lowered its head slightly.

A corner of Alex's lips crooked up. Welcome to the material world my new friend. Im glad youre herewait, what's that wonderful scent? It smells like some type of food! Were youmaking something?

The raptor gave a low cry.

Oh, sorry to take you away, because whatever it is, it smells absolutely delicious! I hope Im not being rude, but it must be tricky for you to do with just those talons and no opposable thumbs. And, umm, while Im at it, please forgive me for this too, but uhmdo I know what the roc is cooking?

For some reason, the bird gave him a withering look, though he wasnt sure exactly why.

Well, you look like you're going to be a good addition to my army, Alex grinned. The question is, what can I do for you? I know rocs like food. So, how about all the freshly caught Ravener-spawn you can eat? And since you like cooking, I can do some cooking for you too. How does that sound?

The roc nodded.

I like it when things are easy, Alex said. Alrighty, well, big guy you're a littlebig, so I'm going to send you back now and summon you when it's time to knock some headsor, you know, pick up some headsattached to some bodies, and drop them a thousand feet to their deaths.

With a nod of thanks, he dismissed the roc, sending it back to the celestial planes.

Time for eighth-tier. I could use a monster for my army that has a lot of different uses, and I know just what would work well in the sanctum.

He picked up the spell guide for eighth-tier summon elder air elemental.

You'll be an interesting additionand for battles under the open sky, you and a flying creature as big as the celestial roc will make a great team. Yeah, you'll do fine, and since you can squeeze through small spaces, you'll also be a great fighter in the sanctum. He grinned. Elder air elementals are like mini tornadoes! We'll see how the First Apostle likes that! Let's see howohoh wow!

Seventh-tier spells were extremely complicated, but as Alex looked through the spell-guide for eighth-tier, he quickly realised how significantly less complex than eighth-tier spells they actually were. The very act of tying eight magical circuits together was going to be as rough as herding cats: but he had to try.

Well, nothing for it, Alex said. The magic isnt going to get any easier if I just sit here and wait, and besides, it only took me a little more than ten tries to get the seventh-tier spell. So, I might as well push on.

He began speaking the incantation for Summon Elder Air Elemental, channelling the mountain of power within his body. The Travellers energy joined with the spell, calling out across the planes. There was something electrifying about the words of the incantation as he conjured a creature as old as the world: the type of monster that was the architect of storms, and the parent of whirlwinds.

He managed to get through five percent of the spell before he had to cancel it.

The words left a tingling on his tongue, leaving him eager to try again.

Time after time, the General of Thameland practised the spell, using the Mark, the Travellers power, and his focus honed from dealing with the Fools Mark. Minutes passed, becoming hours.

At each difficult point along the spell, he paused, studying it, recording the different aspects of the magic circuit and spell array. He learned the intricacies of the magic.

The entire time, his mana pool continued blazing with energy: even eighth-tier spells were barely touching it.

He completed most of the magic circuit, it was taking hours.

At last, the summoning spell and the Travellers energy reached across the planes, touching the elemental plane of air, finding an enduring presence there. A wind as old as the continents poured from the summoning circle, it seemed to shake with the power of the entity within it.

Lightning streaked through the circle.

Thunder awoke and the wind howled.

As the air shimmered, a hungry storm cloud appeared within the summoning circle, immense, vaster across than Bjorgrund was tall, sparking with primordial power.

Lightning crackled as it hissed in an ancient tongue of elemental air.

Its words were at once both a whisper, and the sound of thunder.

The creature floating before the young wizard was one that would have given even greater demons pause, and yet, hed brought it to the material plane with his mana and the words of an incantation.

Greetings, Alex said to the elder elemental. Welcome to the material world. I'm the wizard who summoned you, and Im named Alex Roth. My hope is that you and I can work together: if you share your storms with me to destroy my enemies, I will share my magic with you to destroy yours. Together, we will be the storm clouds that split the sky asunder.

The elder air elemental did not challenge him; it knew well that if he had the power to conjure an eighth-tier spell, then he would have the power to command it as he wished.

Instead, it whispered words of alliance to its summoner, and Alex nodded.

Though his mind was already elsewhere.

He glanced at the ninth-tier summoning spell guides.

Hed broken through to eighth-tier in a matter of hours.

Now, he knew he had to keep going.

There was no reason to stop. Hed done most of what hed set out to do and broken through to seventh and eighth-tier, he didnt have to adjust his plan, he could move forward. He could try his hand at ninth-tier summoning spells

the most powerful tier of spellcraft.