-Ester Von Holtzem-
Walking through the town, I read through the flurry of reports from not only the department of economics, department of foreign affairs, lesser worlds observation department, and grand observation department but also the blackzone affairs department and delvers affair department that I worked with in tandem of as a member of the Von Holtzem family. Working as one of the provincial stewards of Glyiria was rife with its pros and cons, but I could say with satisfaction that this is one of those pros: this town, Blackentrial, would be one of Glyiria’s staging points to become parley and commerce with the nations of Witch Synthia. The fact the Fraeu province had two such connections to this artificial world cluster with Mr. Fayn and his alt-rhi only expanded the potential options.
Naturally there are some complications, Blackentrial is a part of the the Necromancers’ Imperium and therefore under the influence and control of the high lord mage, Belor Zethile, a demigod of Zethuron and head blackzone manager of one of Abstraction of Gastronomy’s sub-blackzones with close ties to Fuer-Frea. Luckily this town was close to a four way border between the nations of four different alliances of nations, one of which being Johari Vogt’s Humble Witch’s Union so we had an ally to work with in securing our position for Historie Pastoria Sweet’s incursion into this land.
“I wasn’t expecting this town to be so magically mundane,” commented Jezebel as she observed the quant yet morbid surroundings of three-to-five stories buildings built out of slab like bricks of compacted bones. A clever use of the abundance of undead coming from the black mana-aligned extraplanar world, I mused, impressed by the architecture that reminded me of both Central Frucs and western Europe, the similarity between the two and this architecture were easily apparent to anyone well versed in traveling the metaverse. Although to say the explanar worlds was a mild exaggeration from the reports which made sense from the fact this artificial lesser world only has thirty rulers: each of those extraplanar worlds was only a few medium-sized nations worth of space for a cumulative total of five worlds worth of space once you account for the main world being the size of two worlds.
“Indeed, the presence of magic and dungeon-like distortions is carefully crafted,” I replied with a subtle nod, tucking my phone away in my breast pocket and returned to using the amber lenses of my Lumiera De Sola Torio to scan the surroundings. The presence of blackzones and divergent distortions was hidden away, with divergent distortions being almost completely nonexistent. On the other hand, system lairs and hills of fantasy were slightly more abundant than the average of the metaverse proper, being tied into the thirty extraplanar worlds and their diminutive but manalogically charged existences.
“And the magic is definitely something else also, to think such a world existed.”
“Indeed, this good place for you to further your spellcraft.”
“But first we have to secure waypoints and trade routes,” I replied, feeling safe in how competent the relevant departments were in that manner.
“That should be simple enough, Mr. Vogt had already promised passage through Cheesecake Emporos-Museum so our province has already secured at least one route,” noted my niece with a smile of interest as the two of us slowed down to inspect the displays on local magic shops: an abundance of hybrid facsimiles were on display, all using system slots in their composition. So the reports were right, these hybrid facsimiles are one of Witch Synthia’s specialties, I thought to myself, working out the mental math of conversion rate between Glyirian dollars and the local currency from the latest report. Once the Glyirian government started to authorize merchants to make their move and buy these hybrid facsimiles and the anachronistic class specialties that this artificial world cluster specialized in tandem with the use of the Hybrid System of Flowers and ten of its derivative Hybrid Systems originating from Mercury-Gardenia would turn a profit.
Naturally such profit would bring issues if not properly managed, the possibility of malactors interfering with the economies and trades was always a concern but the dangers of upsetting the wills of the metaverse and the rulers of this artificial world cluster was more so a concern. One too grevious of a wrong move could mean that not only does Glyiria lose this treasure trove of exotic resources but have to deal with the fact a legendary tier mage with entire nations indirectly at their beck and call would be our enemy. And people had a habit of thinking I am a dangerous force to be reckoned since simply because I am a tier 7.2 spellman, but a tier 13 blackzone manager? The fall out would be not only historical but potentially apocalyptic, especially if they were the type to consort with blackzone gods, monster gods, end of days, heralds, and the like to the point their spellcraft was reflective of it.
The observant departments will have to dig further into the high lord mages, make sure that none of them have the capability to direct Borolio of the Plague Clouds toward Glyiria, I internally muttered to myself, pulling my phone back out to check my notes while my niece went to barter with one of the shopkeepers for some generic hybrid facsimiles, both for research and potential use. Flicking through the vast volumes of files currently stored on my phone, I organized my thought process and categorized Witch Synthia’s high lord mages. There were thirty in total and could be broken down into two groups: the ten ruling over the magical witch alliances that each specialized in a different one of the Hybrid System derived from the Hybrid System of Flowers and the twenty ruling over the mancer alliances that each specialized a different sort of mana.
Drawing my concern was that ten of them had connections to the Grands: four of them being sub-blackzones of Grands and six of them being related to Grands either by being co-blackzones with sub-blackzones of Grands and or having such sub-blackzones under their control also. While our reports and research based off of rumours and second-and-third hand accounts indicated that Witch Synthia had minimal influence from the Grands, the fact that one third of the high lords mages had these connections meant either our reports were false to a degree or could be changed on a dime. As for more local concerns, we had to deal with the fact that the Necromancers’ Imperium was one of the ten and while we did know that the Humble Witches’ Union was currently allied with, we currently had no clue about the Leamancers’ Legion-Alliance to the south and the Corpormancers’ Footholds to the southeast.
“Uncle Ester, what do you think of these facsimiles?” asked my niece as she showed the wares she just purchased along with the receipt.
“Potency wise they are nothing to be astonished, but for their price and composition they are noteworthy. I am proud of you thinking to procure them for research, Jezebel,” I replied with a curt nod, inspecting the six hybrid facsimiles being held up: body-system slots, vitas vessel-system slots, mandalas-system slots, connections-mandalas-system slots, and outer genomes-Sea of Phenomena-system slots. It was quite a varied selection, and the most remarkable thing about them was the potential for modification even after bonding to them: complex facsimiles like these were not uncommon by any stretch of the means, but neither were they common or inexpensive, especially those with higher degrees of customization.
“Indeed, hopefully I can find some high quality facsimiles to help me expand upon my class specialty and anachronistic mandalas.”
“Already thinking about the next expanding option sets are we?”
“Of course, I have a dozen more facsimiles before I reach my limits. It’s only natural I try to leverage that fact,” answered my niece as she conjured a translucent mass of low-attribute mana and coiled it around her arm, making full leverage of the Fount of Mana Sea of Phenomena facsimile she possessed alongside the Lion of Von Leoia herit crest high-contract outer genomes-system slots facsimile. “Perhaps you should think about making use of your limits in terms of facsimiles? Upgrade the Lumiera De Sola?”
“That would be a good choice, the Lumiera De Sola is suited for the metaverse proper. Perhaps it would be best if I invested in another Grand Thesis,” I retorted before focusing inward at my mandalas. Of my various models of Lumiera De Sola, not including the advanced variants and alternate modes granted by Penta Lumiera De Sola Awakened and its Legendary Magus counterpart, Noble Lumiera De Sola: Cervidae Fractalling, only the Torio model would be of much use. My Obscuria, Psychia, and Choix models would only be effective in certain areas, even with how loose this artificial world cluster is on restricting magic. I can’t risk using my stronger spellcraft until we have further reports on how Witch Synthia reacts to the various magics of the metaverse proper. Until then I would have to move forward with tailoring a new Grand Magus-grade, potentially leverage a contract with one of my currents for creating more suited models of the Lumiera De Sola for this land, I planned internally as I pulled out a small magical device.
“Are we heading back already?”
“We have done today’s preliminary reports and you have bought facsimiles for research and use with most of this week’s funds allocated to you. It is best we go back to the hill of fantasy and return through Mr. Fayn’s blackzone. I know my Elise and Pierrin are eager to hear your reports and see if you have brought them any souvenirs.”
“They are about to enter their second year of college aren’t they? Well, I’ll have to make sure they can take a pick of one of these facsimiles if they want after they are catalogued. They might not be high quality, that there is nothing stopping them from being tempered and improved with use,” noted Jezebel, already figuring which facsimiles her cousins would likely pick. She was not wrong; not to mention tempering and improving bonded facsimiles is an arduous process so it would be good for them, I know my wife, Serehbel would enjoy seeing our children tackle such an endeavour even if only casually.
Thumbing the small magical device in my hand, I slowly channeled mana into it to activate its latent teleportation spell and auxiliary magics. Simply another one of the unique benefits of this artificial world cluster’s make up: teleportation magic is always easier to perform in the lesser worlds, but Witch Synthia’s explanar worlds only further eased this process by making the walls between worlds and layers of realities, including the sources of mana, thinner in a carefully exploitable manner. With a swirling motion, the spell drawn on and distorted not only the Leylines but the major manalogical layers of reality of draco-druidic and eldritch, the Dragon’s Home and the Anti-Space, sending the two of us straight to the hill of fantasy.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this peculiar brand of teleportation,” I noted as I watched the spell complete itself, the auxiliary magics attached to it swirling themselves out of existence. Most teleportations used the Astral Horizon, the Dimensional Folds, and the Leylines, so to experience a method of transport that replaced two of the layers of reality was inspiring in how it was executed.
“It is very eccentric and quite a different feel,” offhandedly agreed my niece as she observed the Tomzuccasoir-themed town of the intermediary hill of fantasy with its floating spheres of raw mana and distortions in the layers of reality. In the distance we could see Historie Pastoria Sweet’s hidden conquest, System Assistant’s Caketopia, shimmering in and out of view even with our passive sensory magics. It should be interesting to see how Ras and the others handle this unique opprutinity, I mused with a smile, ready to see what unique monsters would be made to secure the conquest from outside forces, including the monsters of the hill of fantasy itself.
