Aghanim's Rubick Chapter 25:

Chapter 25:

Some people would say that after King Gazel left, I should take some time off to relax and reflect. After all, being attacked by a legendary creature was quite the big event, in theory. Even putting aside my disappointment at how weak said legend turned out to be, I would likely still be doing the exact same thing.

That being experimenting with my magic in a secluded part of the forest.

As weird as it sounds, despite this looking like studying, I found this relaxing. Rather than work, this was my way of unwinding. Of course, I was not really in the mood to unwind, tense as I was.

It might sound strange, but the ease with which Claszureme defended itself against Charybdis worried me. It was a country killer, an ender of nations, yet I would have been able to crush it by myself. That would have seemed like good news, but instead it worried me.

In a straight up fight, I had no illusions of who would win between Milim and me. Without tricking her into the Void, it would not even be close. Sure, unless she went directly for my core, something I knew she was aware of, none of her attacks that I have seen would be enough to kill me. Draco Nova was the most devastating, but I could simply Void it with my portals.

However, Nothing I possessed was enough to damage her. Her most devastating attack, boosted many tames over and reflected at her, didn’t leave so much as a scratch. I could not yet level anything on that level of destructive capacity, so I had no way of actually taking her down.

Judging by Gazel’s reaction to her, she held some reputation of her overwhelming power. Much like Charybdis, she appeared to be a legendary figure of nation destroying capability. Unfortunately, that did little to soothe my mind. You see, I realised something in the Charybdis fight.

I had grown too strong.

In a fantasy world like this one, with unseen threats lurking in every corner, such a thing was not solely a detriment. However, it left with me with a rather simple problem.

I had no idea of my level of strength.

Conducting diplomacy, threat assessment, even war planning. None of those could be achieved properly without knowing where I stood amongst the heavy hitters of this world. Above Charybdis but below Milim? The gulf was wide, wider than the one between me and the beast. It told me nothing besides the fact that we were all apparently capable of destroying a country.

Such a thing was less impressive than it sounded, these were medieval times after all. Levelling a capitol would likely be more than enough for the rest of the nation to fragment. So that designation was not at all useful to me.

I couldn’t gain the knowledge I sought easily either. I don’t know this world, who the strongest were or the many who were below them. Claszureme didn’t have an expansive library, the one that Susuru and I ordered constructed was still waiting for the Printing Press we designed with the dwarves to be finished. So consulting books was no aid.

No, instead the only path forward was to understand myself. My capabilities and limitations. To create more magic, to widen my versatility, so that even if I met someone stronger than me I didn’t rely on a single trick to take them out.

Of course, my newfound love for studying magic was more than happy with this, but now I had a reason to do so that was not solely my own desires.

And I knew just the place to start.

When I first met Lucifer, who was currently standing motionless as a statue, observing my still form with a quiet intensity, I used a form of magic that I had never seen before. It came to me naturally, instinctively, as if I always knew how to do it but just hadn’t before that point. It is kind of like moving a muscle, you don’t really think about it, it just happens.

I tried it again against Charybdis, this time to freeze its scales in the air. It worked perfectly. Which made me wonder, what exactly was it I was doing? Some form of Gravity manipulation? Time to find out.

I bent down, picking up a rock and holding it on my palm, focusing on it. I flexed the muscle again, feeling a strange sense of familiarity through my magic sense as I did, causing the rock to float up into the air. It tilted my head, observing it’s movements as I willed it to perform several manoeuvres, growing more and more certain of my initial thought.

Thinking of another way to test it, I let it drop into my palm before throwing into the air, freezing it in place as it started to drop, keeping it at eye level. Utilizing another of the forest’s resources around me, I chose a large leaf to wave around the rock, over and under it, brushing it over the surface. Resting the leaf on top of the stone, I let go, causing it to slide off and fall to the floor.

I tilted my head, considering, before with a flash of light, the stone vanished from a burst of plasma.

“Hmm.” I spoke, not minding the Demoness’ presence, knowing that thinking out loud helped me organise my thoughts, “The stone followed my will exactly, no drifting or bobbing. It didn’t have a lag time stopping and the leaf fell normally from it, so I don’t think it is gravity based. I destroyed it without releasing the magic, same as I did those scales, so it isn’t locking it in time stasis either, which is even further proven by the fact I could move it. So this is a technique based on space?”

I tilted my head, deep in thought. The feeling was familiar. Very familiar. Closing my eyes, I tried to remember where I had felt it before. Logically, my Harvest Festival was the most likely place I gained the ability, same as my access to the Void. I could feel the Void at the edge of my senses, so knowing there was something more to it was easy. This, however, was a lot more subtle.

I first used it against Lucifer, just after I woke up. But before that, while walking down the corridor, the air felt different, walking slightly strange. I had since grown accustomed to the feeling, but perhaps that was a mistake?

I was startled out of my thoughts by Lucifer, who was watching me with interested eyes, “Do your Skills not grant you an intrinsic understanding of your Magic, my Lord?”

“Do they usually?” I queried, intrigued.

“Yes.” Her white hair bobbed with her nod, “All Skills carry with them intrinsic knowledge of how they are used. Their basic functions are immediately known to the receiver when they gain them.”

“Interesting. So the acquisition of skills comes with some form of knowledge transfer. Seeing as the Voice of the World informs you of when you gain a skill, that is the mostly likely source of the implanted knowledge. It doesn’t work for me because I cannot hear the Voice of the World.” I was just theorizing, but I felt that I was most likely correct.

“In that case, you are even more amazing than I imagined.” She gushed, wine red eyes sparkling, “To gain such power without your Skills guiding you, it’s completely unheard of in the history of the world!”

Her praise was embarrassing, but a particular part of her sentence grabbed my attention, “The history of the world, you say? Lucifer, do know a lot about that subject?”

I was trying to be tactful, it was usual for Demons to have long lifespans in fiction, some of theme even being completely immortal. However, asking a woman about her age directly was never a good idea.

“Of course my Lord. I was there for most of it!” Lucifer happily admitted, showing absolutely no embarrassment, “I am one of the Ancient Demons, after all.”

He frank admission of her age was drowned out by my excitement. It appeared that the answer to my worries had been by my side the entire time.

---ARARAR---

The frustrating part of personal diplomatic visits, Gazel Dwargo reflected, was the clean-up that came after. Almost without fail, every time he returned from one of these journeys he was greeted with a veritable mountain of meetings and paperwork upon his return. He was an active King, after all, something that both advantages and disadvantages.

Still, it was his duty.

The fact that the build up of administrative busywork had mostly been solved in a day, even if it took up the majority of it, was a shining testament to the skill of the scribes and administrators he had chosen. Getting it all squared away was a relief, but it still left him precious little time to reflect about what he had seen during his trip to Jura.

To that end, he had organised for one last meeting to end the day, one much less formal that the others that had stolen his time. Sitting upon his balcony, taking in the view of his peaceful, prosperous city, he took a deep pull of the delicious liquor that Rubick had gifted him and sighed.

His close friend, Dorf, Captain of the Pegasus Knights, had a similar glass in front of him. A testament to his mood, the man famously difficult to ply with drink.

The silence stretched between the two men, both of them keeping company their own thoughts, before Gazel broke it with a rumbling question.

“Could we win?”

Who he was speaking about needed no clarification.

Dorf leaned forwards, linking his fingers together as he stared at the table. He didn’t answer his King’s question immediately, something Gazel was grateful for. An answer that had been properly considered was much more valuable than one given in haste when it came to matters such as this.

Gazel had his own thoughts on the matter, but his view had been influenced by his location during the battle. Away from the fighting, observing from a distance, he had not taken the full measure of the Army of Claszureme. Fighting amongst them would have given him a better idea of their measure, but as it was he thought they were inexperienced.

Well trained and drilled, to be sure, but unused to battle. There were places to be, especially for a nation so young as the one Rubick led, but an elite fighting force they were not. Their individual power was great, their morale high and the quality of their weapons impressive. However, they lacked the hardness that experience brought.

Still…

“Not cleanly, my King.” Dorf eventually answered, confirming Gazel’s thoughts, “Their tactics were simple and their instincts unrefined, but if it came down to a true battle we would sustain significant casualties. Assuming we could defeat Susuru, Rubick and Lucifer, we would still sustain immense damage to our own forces.”

That is what Gazel thought too. It was possible for them to win, especially if he took the field and they used their experimental weaponry, but the cost was not worth it. To fight an enemy that it would cost the majority of your army to defeat was something that should only be done when absolutely necessary. Some would say that a nation of monsters was just such an occurrence, but they had proven themselves open to diplomacy.

He recognised hesitation in the Captain, “You have more to say.”

“I have never seen so many Named Monsters in one place before. Every single member of their army had a name, from the weakest to the strongest. Seeing as they were pledged to Rubick…” The Captain explained, a worried look on his face.

“You believe he named thousands of monsters personally?” Gazel questioned, having noticed the same.

“It appears so. Some might have been named before entering his service, but all of them shared the loyalty that monsters gain towards their Namer when it came to him.” Dorf explained, “It’s a known phenomenon, a more powerful monster can override the Naming of a weaker one.”

“If Rubick truly did this feat, yet still had enough power to do what he did against Charybdis… He might be stronger than some of the Demon Lords themselves.” Gazel finished the thought.

Naming weakened monsters, having so many all tied to one spoke to immense strength by one bestowing the names.

Or a Skill.

“Milim Nava is drawn towards strong opponents. Every Monster claiming to be a Demon Lord is sought out by her, many of them are killed soon after. Rubick has not yet claimed such a thing, but they are friendly regardless. Another reason to be careful.” Gazel mused.

“What are your orders, my King?” Dorf asked, face stern.

Gazel could detect the hint of worry, however.

“For now, we wait. Rubick has signed a treaty with us. Even if it is to a nation of Monsters, breaking a treaty first is a dishonourable act.” Gazel decided.

Such a thing could be provocative, seen as legitimising a nation ruled by monsters, but Gazel didn’t care. All those who complained were not the ones living next to someone who could set fire to the sky with a wave of his hand. Besides, his true meaning was easily caught by his old friend.

After all, standing ready was not the same as standing idle. Claszureme held the potential to be a great threat, something that could devastate his kingdom. Should Rubick be earnest in his desire for peace, they could be just as great an opportunity. Should this instead be a trick however, then they would use the time wisely.

Should he attack Dwargon, Rubick would find that they were more prepared than he could ever expect.

Thinking back to his interactions with the Monster, the easy going nature and friendly smile, Gazel did not think such an action was likely. Likely or not, as King, it was his duty to ensure that his Kingdom was prepared for it regardless.