The stalker accompanying Zwei dispelled himself as soon as he was back in the city, sending Lukas a deluge of information. He had already learned about the existence of Erasure through the journal, but memories carried far more weight than the journal's words. The magic felt familiar. It had draconic elements and was terrifying.

The magic looked like a blackhole on the surface ,but its interaction with the local laws of physics was completely different. Lukas theorized that the black sphere wasn't sucking everything in so much as erasing reality. He didn't quite remember what he had learned about the Great Black Dragon while in the Realm of Greater Beings, but it felt correct. The sphere wasn't suckinng everything in so much as erasing reality in its direct vicinity, sucking in all that remained.

It hadn't sucked in parts of the Twilight Roc. The sphere had consumed elements of it. He wanted to investigate it, but worried that raising questions would result in the journal trying to push a quest onto him. Despite the loss of knowledge from his previous life, Lukas remembered that the Great Black Dragon was one of the entities that Lady Silverspine genuinely feared. He had apparently disappeared aeons ago, and she had sent him on several jobs to investigate and eliminate cults that worshipped him. Lukas had also taken on jobs that involved snuffing out all traces of the Devouring Black Flame.

Lukas wasn't sure whether he wanted to investigate the Aquila mage further or avoid them altogether. The clones had closely watched the two guild members and the second enchanter during the return journey. The Shadow Seekers' concerns seemed unfounded. All parties involved in the quest appeared to have the Union and the city's best interests at heart. Personal profit seemed to be secondary.

The job came with decent pay, but it was a pittance compared to Lukas's savings. He resolved to use quest earnings for living expenses. All money made from selling to the Shadow Seekers went back into artisanry pursuits. The profits weren't notable yet, but Lukas hoped that would change as Zwei's enchanting expertise improved.

Lukas and the clones' return to the Gray came with further advancements in their abilities.

Biomancy has progressed to Rank 7!

Biomass compression and storage abilities have improved.

Dispelling Zwei also came with a surprising number of advancements.

Thunderstorm's Eye has progressed to Rank 5!

The rate of passive energy production has increased.

Thunderstorm's Eye has progressed to Rank 6!

The rate of passive energy production has increased.

Minor ability upgrade available.

Please select from the following:

The Calm Before: Calm your body and brain to achieve a state of complete, but calm and focused. Concentrating is significantly easier during the Calm. However, achieving the state consumes the Heart's energy and results in significant mental strain after deactivation.

Storm-Infused: Infusing objects, conjurations, and unrelated spells with storm energy is more efficient. Get more lightning and sound magic for your investment. The power of storm spells increases exponentially with the energy used, but they become harder to control. Aiming lightning magic becomes more challenging, and the diffusion of sound magic increases.

Calamitous Echoes: For a minor investment, the effects of storm spells can linger in an area or wherever they struck. Lightning will bounce between all conducting surfaces within the region or inside the struck target. Sonic spells will pulse until the energy is depleted.

A while had passed since Lukas faced such a difficult decision. He didn't expect to get all the active effects from the mid-tier abilities. The third option immediately stood out to Lukas. Its combat potential was incredible. He hadn't received much use of the touch spells from the clones, and he developed, but Calamitous Echoes would give him a reason to rely on them more often and develop more combat spells that relied only on lightning and sound magic.

Meanwhile, Storm-Infused provided more versatility, increasing the potency of Shadowsteel projectiles infused with lightning or sound. It also had great potential with weaker storm spells. However, the drawbacks of it concerned Lukas. Lightning magic already came with major accuracy issues. He had also read that sound magic was incredibly challenging to focus. The waves tended to spread outward.

The Calm Before lacked immediate combat potential. However, it had a wider range of use. Lukas could see it proving invaluable in artisanry, social situations, and all spell casting. It didn't drain personal magic reserves and only storm energy. The downsides didn't make it ideal for combat unless casting a long, powerful spell that had a large chance of failure.

Initially, Lukas found himself drawn toward Calamitous Echoes, but the potential of The Calm Before in out-of-combat situations gave him pause. He didn't just see it as a perfect tool for mastering his smithing and enchanting skills, but also for making the most out of Spellweaver. He also believed it was likely to help him with the process of unentangling himself from Lady Silverspine.

Lukas created two mage clones with Thunderstorm's Eye instead of Spellweaver. Morph was taking a break before his next job, and Lukas had no current need for a stalker. He and the pair worked together to study the scrolls and upgrade the mage specialization.

It was now more important than ever to create more specializations. They were necessary for pushing Shadow Clone past the threshold and meeting the requirements for advancing to tier three. He was excited to find out the possibilities with the Essences of Ambush, Predation, Dusk, and Dragon. He wished to save for the Essence of Arcane Shaping for Spellweaver and the Essence of Currents for Thunderstorm's Eye. He didn't yet know what would go best with Arcane Smithing or Alter Metal Mass, and it was unlikely he'd find out anytime soon.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Zwei had returned to work in Irma's workshop. Lukas hoped that the efforts under her tutelage would help Spellweaver reach the necessary threshold for advancement to tier two. He didn't care as much which would come first.

More clones would help him practise his abilities and artisanry skills more often, helping all of his abilities advance, especially Spellweaver. More clones would also enable him to take on additional jobs, thereby improving his standing. If he had clones to spare, he wouldn't mind sending them on more journal quests either.

Meanwhile, advancing Spellweaver first would allow for the creation of more spells and clone specializations, speeding up Shadow Clone's advancement to tier three. He was also eager for his next conjunction ability.

Penelope checked in on Lukas a week after he returned from the Draco Lily quest. "Why did you send a clone?" She asked. "I've been waiting to hear from you forever."

"I have two abilities almost at the point of advancement," Lukas answered. "I'm sorry, advancement has taken all my progress, and I need to get it done before the Frozen Phoenix expedition takes off."

"Have you given up on your magnetism projects?" The sorcerer wandered through the workshop, studying the many half-complete projects. Eins stood by the Portable Phoenix Forge, hammering the head of a new glaive. The mystical bird's innate magic flowed through the steel. Lukas intended to keep the piece for one of the clones. He liked its potential. "The manipulation of universal laws is incredible. Forget the conclave and scholars. I need to look through the journal—"

"I appreciate everything you've done for me, Penelope," Lukas interrupted, his attention returning to sheets of paper spread across the work surface. He was still working on adapting Earth Lance to the Shadow attunement. "But I think an exchange of information would be better."

"What do you specifically need help with?"

If his sudden refusal to comply and give everything up like a good apprentice bothered her, Penelope didn't let it show. He didn't officially work for her, and they were partners. Lukas believed it was time for equal give and take. His understanding of magnetism and ideas for applied lightning and sound magic were far too valuable to give up for nothing. The fact that she had wandered over to nonchalantly talk about it told him enough.

"I'm struggling with applied fire," Lukas answered. "Help me adapt it to my attunements?"

"Which would you like first? Shadowfire or Stormfire?"

"Wait, what?" Lukas stopped in the middle of drawing a spell diagram. "Stormfire? That's a thing?"

"Fire in an arcane context is a state of magic as opposed to matter, phenomenon, or plasma," Penelope explained. "Stormfire is a chaotic existence of lightning and sonic disruption. It's far too unreliable and unpredictable for use."

Lukas didn't recall seeing Stormfire in the text he copied from Penelope's library. He was keen to study the arcane creation, but liked the idea of Shadowfire better. It apparently absorbed heat instead of emitting it, but was nowhere as potent as Cold Fire. However, the spreading potential of Shadowfire was unparalleled in darkness, and it was also hard to extinguish or smother without potent light sources.

"Let's start with Shadowfire," Lukas said. "I've been trying to create it for weeks now, but nothing has worked."

"Show me," Penelope said, hopping onto an unused workbench. She elegantly crossed her legs. It seemed she had invested in a pair of expensive boots. No snow clung to the sides or sole, even though it was a couple of feet deep outside.

Even though Lukas lacked the necessary attunement, he had learned how to cast the Flame Dart spell. It had the necessary framework for long-range attack magic, and the Shadowsteel needles were modelled after it. He primarily used it for the projection technique.

The spell was far from efficient since Lukas needed to convert his existing magic into fire. He preferred to rely on Storm Energy since lightning, being volatile, converted to flames the easiest.

"That's the quickest I've seen you create fire yet." The sorcerer smiled. "Good job. Now turn it into Shadow."

Lukas wrapped the six-inch-long projectile in shadows and slowly encouraged the pair to merge. It was a strenuous process and left him gritting his teeth. The flames began to darken and danced more slowly than before.

"Stop. Dispel it." Penelope continued after he did as told. "Far too long and inefficient. You're not even creating true Shadowfire at the end, but forcing shadows to wrap around flames and behave like them. It's a poor imitation."

"How would you suggest I go about it, then?" Lukas answered exasperated. He was starting to think he was close, but that clearly wasn't the case.

"First of all, you need a better foundation spell. Have you heard of Catch Flame?"

Lukas shook his head.

"Gather and focus raw magic around a point," Penelope instructed, holding out her hand. Lukas sensed pure arcane energies gathering in front of her palm. The concentration increased as she continued. "I'm slowing the process down so you can follow, but ideally you want this to happen as fast as possible. Instantaneously ideally. Concentrate and excite, causing the energies to fight and collide with each other, let them interact with the air until everything ignites."

A bright blue flame spawned in Penelope's hand. It wasn't a cold fire. Lukas felt a potent, skin-blanching heat despite the distance between them.

"You make that look so easy," Lukas stated as one of the nearby mage clones ceased their practising to copy Penelope.

"It is." Penelope chuckled. "Catch Flame is such a basic spell, it might as well be a cantrip. Fire and evocation mages use it for training. Some go on to use it for lighting hearths and campfires or forget it altogether."

It took Lukas far more time to copy the one simple spell. At first, he thought he was just trying to set the magic ablaze, but then he thought about the physics of it. Exciting the magic was also exciting the air. It was the fuel that needed rapid oxidation to turn it into fire. With understanding came the necessary intent. He started a fire the size of a ping-pong ball. Unlike Penelope's, it wasn't bright blue, but dark orange.

Fire Dart was a complicated cocktail, and replacing the thread that granted the spell its attunement made the spell break down, and the magic dispersed. It was why he had shadow-wrapped the dart instead of using the more direct path. Lukas didn't face the same issue with Catch Fire. His heart skipped a beat when the flames turned solid black.

"That was so much easier," he said, embracing the radiating cold. It was a nice relief following the heat of Penelope's Catch Fire.

Lukas dispelled a clone and resummoned it while casting the spell again. This time, the base flame didn't manifest orange. Instead, it started black straight away. The process was significantly easier now that he understood the minutiae of it. He couldn't help but smile when the journal vibrated.

The Stalker specialization has been upgraded. Its mastery over shadows has significantly improved.

It wasn't enough to get Shadow Clone to the necessary threshold, but it was a decent start. Lukas didn't have many applications for Shadowfire yet, but he'd figure out something sooner or later.

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