The barriers around Jerel's smithy fell one by one as Magnus severed his connection with the spells, allowing them to fade away.
With the barriers gone, the familiar breeze that sometimes swept through the streets of Arlcliff City returned, bringing relief from the heat that had built up in the forge. It also helped cool Jerel, who took off his gloves and apron and tossed them onto the workbench nearby.
He then turned to Magnus, who was still staring at the newly crafted projectile section of Rokshaata, and asked, "So, can you give me a hint about what I just helped you make, or is it some magical secret?"
It was a joke, but Magnus could tell there was genuine curiosity behind it. He glanced up at Jerel and shrugged slightly.
"Honestly, I'm not completely sure. The material you melted down and added has a bunch of different properties. I know what it can do when it hits someone, but... when it comes to other uses, your sister's more of an expert on that than I am."
Jerel raised an eyebrow when he heard his sister mentioned.
"You mean Celia?"
"Yeah. Since I moved into Takerth Academy, she's been more of an assistant than a maid. Helping me with experiments, testing magic, that kind of thing. When I left the city for a while, she didn't slow down on any of that, so there are a few things I'll need to ask her about before I can put this to good use," Magnus explained, causing Jerel to look slightly surprised. Given their relationship, it was clear that Celia hadn't told him anything about helping Magnus with magic.
"Huh... so she's finally gotten to do it. She's been obsessed with magic, fairy tales, and all that since she was a kid. I guess I shouldn't be surprised she's still sticking with it, especially since she knows you." Jerel's voice carried a hint of nostalgia, and he smiled to himself after speaking.
"Yeah, she's definitely got a knack for it. Shame she doesn't have the traits to become a mage. I know someone who was interested in taking her on as a disciple. But anyway, I've gotta go meet up with her," Magnus said, slipping the new Rokshaata projectile into his storage ring before grabbing the coin section that had been modified to fit the projectile's new shape, putting that away as well.
"Huh, wait, you came here with Celia?" Jerel asked as he stood up from the stool, stretching slightly.
Magnus nodded and answered, "Yeah, well, her and Tola. I was planning to just visit you and a friend today, but then Hisel sent me a letter saying she wanted to talk business, and the girls wanted to go shopping. It all kind of lined up."
When Jerel heard Tola's name, he gave a wry smile.
"Oh... Tola, huh. Well, I'm glad those two are still friends."
"So, I'm guessing Tola doesn't like you for the same reason Celia doesn't?" Magnus asked.
Jerel nodded with a sigh.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Gotcha. So I should also assume you don't want me to pass any message along?" Magnus asked.
Jerel thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"No, it's probably for the best if you don't. Just... make sure Celia stays safe. I've been worried about her since that whole kidnapping thing you told me about, but I haven't been able to get in touch with Zeth or his men because of the increased patrols and crackdowns." Tension tightened his jaw, and his hands clenched slightly as he spoke. He hadn't forgotten, and he wasn't planning on overlooking it—especially if Zeth was involved. Even if it was under duress, the two of them had a working relationship on specific terms, and Magnus couldn't imagine that Celia's kidnapping was part of that.
Then again, I'm starting to doubt Zeth even knows about the kidnapping. He runs a different branch of Nightshade, after all.
After a brief pause, Magnus nodded and replied, "Of course. Believe it or not, your sister has made friends with a pretty powerful mage, so she's in... well, Eveline's hands are questionable, but she's trustworthy in this case."
Jerel paused, then smirked.
"I'll take your word for it, then." After that, Magnus offered to pay for Jerel's work one more time, but was turned down, he took his leave. So after stepping out of the forge, he headed down the street in the direction Celia and Tola had gone.
A little ways down that street, around the corner, and a bit further still, the two of them were sitting outside a bakery, enjoying slices of what looked like fruit cake. The sun hit the street just right, casting a perfect balance of light and shadow. People walked up and down the sidewalk, and the street was far busier than the one Jerel's smithy was on, with the occasional carriage and horse trotting by.
"So, yeah, after the Head Maid almost found out, they had to keep their relationship low-key, which it already kind of was. Their schedules are hard to match, so they don't get to see each other much. But honestly, I think it makes it more exciting, you know? A forbidden love where you have to find a way," Tola said, romanticizing it as she spoke.
Celia laughed and shook her head.
"I mean, it's not really forbidden. The only reason it's not allowed is because if all the maids at the villa were dating the guards, they wouldn't get their work done," Celia said, cutting a piece of her cake with her fork and popping it into her mouth, humming with enjoyment.
"Oh yeah? In that case, what would you consider a forbidden relationship?" Tola asked teasingly.
Celia tilted her head, thinking for a moment before answering, "Well, it'd have to be one of those commoner and nobility relationships, right? Commoners marrying into nobility or royalty is strictly forbidden. The idea of some someone loving you enough to break the law and risk everything, even their status, just to be with you... Now that's a forbidden relationship."
"Hmm, yeah... too bad most of the heads of noble families are sixty-year-old men with more slaves than fingers. I guess some fantasies just stay fantasies," Tola muttered with a short sigh, but Celia raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well, if you're really that eager for a noble lover, you could risk getting beheaded and try one of the older students at Takerth Academy. I've seen a few of them, and it's making me wonder if mages and knights are just born attractive or something." Celia doubted any of them would actually give Tola the time of day, of course, but she knew Tola wasn't the type to give up on someone she was interested in just because it was a bit difficult. If Celia had to count the number of odd pairings and lovers Tola had introduced to her and then dropped for one reason or another, she was sure she'd need a whole new notebook just for the stories.
At that moment, Celia felt someone grab her shoulders, and a voice said, "And what are two lovely ladies like you doing on such a fine day?"
Both Celia and Tola froze for a second before Celia glanced behind her, and Tola, sitting opposite her, looked up to see Magnus grinning with a ridiculous voice.
Letting out a relieved but annoyed breath, Celia shrugged his hands off her shoulders and said, "Dammit, Magnus, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Yeah, I didn't even see you. I thought I was about to punch someone in the face and risk getting blood all over my outfit," Tola added, relaxing back in her seat.
"Oh, I would actually want to see that," Magnus commented as he moved from behind Celia and stood next to their table so both of them could see him.
"So, you finish up whatever you were doing at my brother's smithy?" Celia asked. Magnus nodded, pulling the new projectile section of Rokshaata from his storage ring and holding it out in front of them.
"That's right, behold, the new and improved Rokshaata, with an added alloy forged using a fragment of the brick." Tola, of course, had no idea what that meant, but Celia immediately understood. Her eyes went wide as she looked between Rokshaata and Magnus.
"Wait... that's what you had him make for you? Isn't- I mean, wasn't that dangerous?" Celia asked, her eyes locked on the black and red ball in Magnus's hand.
"I set up a bunch of barriers and was there just in case anything happened. But it went pretty smoothly, all things considered," Magnus replied. Hearing that, Celia relaxed a little, though she was clearly intrigued by the new version of Rokshaata. She knew what the Knockout Brick could do, and now that it was attached to a weapon, she could imagine the possibilities.
On the other hand, Tola had no idea what either of them was talking about.
She spoke up, "So... are either of you going to tell me what you're talking about? Feeling a bit confused over here."
That finally pulled Celia's attention away from Rokshaata.
She replied, "It's a long story, some of which I can't even tell you since it's magic-related, but we'll explain on the way to Hisel's."
She turned to Magnus and asked, "Are you ready to go?"
Magnus nodded.
"Yeah, as soon as you girls are."
So, after they finished their cake, all three of them started heading toward Hisel's. Along the way, since Tola was curious, they talked a bit about Rokshaata, though not so much about the Knockout Brick. In the end, Magnus knew he wasn't always under the academy's watch, but he still avoided talking about glitches when he could. As for disguising his abilities as magic, it would be fine as long as he didn't try to teach Tola anything about magic itself, like he had with Celia in secret.
"So, wait. You're saying you can make that little ball fly with your mind using magic?" Tola asked, staring at Rokshaata in Magnus's hand as they walked down the street.
"Basically, yeah. I call the ability [Bullseye] because... well, it rarely misses its target," Magnus said, tossing Rokshaata into the air. Celia panicked for a moment, but just as it was about to fall, it floated there, slowly moving through the air at the same pace they were walking.
"Woah..." Tola said, her eyes wide with awe. She had never really been exposed to magic like Celia had.
She then asked, "How does it work? Can I ask that?"
"Well, I can't get into the specifics, but basically, I imagine an invisible path or trajectory between the projectile—this little thing," Magnus said, pointing to the floating ball trailing behind them, "and whatever my target is. Then I choose whether I want to go for a timer-based speed or a velocity-based speed. Basically, do I want Rokshaata to travel the length of the path I've mapped out in a couple of seconds, or at a specific speed, with no time limit?"
"Huh," Tola muttered.
"I didn't know that," Celia said. She had been there when Magnus first used [Bullseye] in an experiment and had even helped him figure out a few things. But back then, they weren't close enough for him to explain his abilities to her.
I mean, I suppose Magnus has changed a lot, even if he still acts a bit the same. He used to be a lot more cautious and reserved... or maybe I should say he's just more confident now.
Celia thought about it for a moment, but her mind quickly shifted to another thought, prompting her to speak.
"But wait, wouldn't that mean you have no reason to use the speed method?" she asked. Tola looked at her, clearly confused.
"What do you mean?" Tola asked, not really getting it.
"Well, the thing about it is—if you set the speed of a projectile, there's still a chance that whatever you're trying to hit could move out of the way. But if you set the time so your projectile hits something in, like, the next three seconds—even if your target's in another city—it's guaranteed. Just seems better in general," Celia explained.
"Oh yeah... I guess so," Tola muttered, visualizing it in her head for a moment. She glanced over at Magnus, who gave a partial nod.
"Sort of. Technically, you're right. If I use [Bullseye] and control the speed but not the time, all the target has to do is move faster than whatever speed I set for Rokshaata. So, it's not a guaranteed hit—just an incredibly fast projectile. But if I set a time, then Rokshaata becomes homing, following the target wherever it goes, as long as I visualize it correctly. It's a guaranteed hit within the time frame. But in the end, both methods control speed. The first method of [Bullseye] gives me full control over the velocity, while the second one means the velocity changes depending on the target's speed, distance, and so on."
"Wait, okay, I sort of get it now. I'm not going to lie to you two, I wasn't following," Tola admitted, causing Celia to stifle a laugh.
"I knew you were focusing way too much," Celia muttered, clearly finding the whole thing hilarious. Tola rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Well, excuse me for not being born smart, or whatever. But anyway, does that mean Celia was right? That the second method is just better?" Tola asked, still curious even though she didn't fully get it.
"Well, not exactly," Magnus replied as the projectile half of Rokshaata moved through the air in a serpentine pattern. If the people walking past before didn't notice it or thought they were seeing things, now they were pointing it out and staring with wide eyes.
"You see, the one major downside of using the timer method is that I have no control over the velocity. You two may or may not know this, but speed transfers into power. And if something goes fast enough, even something as small as this little sphere could end up... well, for example, blowing up a mountain. So I have to be careful with it. If the target's too far away, or is moving too fast, and I send Rokshaata after it in too little of a time frame, then it could make the projectile move ridiculously fast. And if it runs into anything along the way, it'll plow right through it, no matter the damage it causes."
It was the same problem Magnus faced with his Velocity Breaker. Technically, the level of speed he could launch strikes at now wasn't close to his limit. With his new body and barriers, he was sure he could launch even more devastating strikes and survive just fine with a bit of regeneration. But with [Velocity Breaker], he controlled its speed and, by extension, its power, so there was never a huge risk. On the other hand, with [Bullseye], if something—or someone—he targeted was a hundred kilometers away, and he wanted to strike them in the blink of an eye, Rokshaata might accidentally reach, or even exceed, the speed of light, destroying everything in its path.
Just thinking about it caused Magnus to sigh.
If destroying the world wasn't a consequence, I could just [Bullseye] with the timeframe being zero seconds, and there we go, teleportation through instant speed. But I suppose if just moving Rokshaata at light speed would destroy everything, then instant speed would probably break reality or something.
Surprisingly, Celia's next words, as she tapped her chin and thought about what Magnus had said, mirrored his thoughts.
"So, I suppose the only way you could use your [Bullseye] ability to its fullest potential safely would be if there was nothing in the world to hit in the first place, huh? But I guess that's impossible," Celia muttered, shrugging off the idea.
Magnus nodded, answering casually, "Yeah, but sadly the whole world's occupied by-"
He suddenly stopped, his casual expression shifting as he continued, "Stuff... right. But I suppose in that case... what if it moved through a world that really was empty? Or rather, a non-world. Like... a void?"