Magic is Programming
B2 Chapter 36: More Strings

Carlos joined the gathering of his house for their by-now-routine flight to a new area with even higher-level aether, feeling rather cheerful. He nodded to Amber, who was already there and waiting for him. He looked around, mentally checking off the roster of people, and was unsurprised to find he was the last to arrive. No one's looking impatient or annoyed, at least. He shrugged, then rolled his shoulders and theatrically stretched. "Ready for our first time doing this by our own power?"

Amber grinned back at him, he felt her mana flex, and then she rose to hover a foot above the ground. "What do you think? Can you keep up?"

Carlos smiled as he turned part of his focus inward and invoked the same Flight spell himself. Between greater specialization of his structures, greater synergies, and being almost Level 29 now, the casting was now completely silent. It was also a great deal faster than speaking the incantation would be, though still not quite as fast as activating a pre-prepared instance of the spell. We'll close even that gap before much longer. He rose into the air to join Amber. "I can do this all day." He chuckled inwardly. I've always wanted to say that and mean it.

Crown Mage Felton cleared his throat loudly before they could take it any farther. "I received an update on the rotation agreement developments this morning that you should be wary of. The issue is escalating into greater open conflict. Several noble houses were raided yesterday, each of them either as yet neutral or openly supporting the Crown's stance."

Carlos frowned and chewed his lip. "Hmm. How is the Crown responding?"

"Princess Lornera is sending squads of royal guards to protect loyal houses from any future raids, and Prince Patrimmon demolished High House Briston's main castle as a warning. Open defiance of the Crown will not be tolerated."

Carlos cocked his head, thinking. "Sounds like anyone who might want to go after us has bigger problems to worry about right now."

Felton shrugged. "Perhaps. Or someone might decide to go for a target they can actually beat."

Carlos shared a look with Amber, then looked down at Purple, over at Colonel Lorvan and Major Ordens of the Crown Guards, flicked his gaze across Trinlen and the elite adventuring party prepared for their flight and Kindar, who no longer needed protection from the aether around them, and finally looked back at Felton himself. "If so, I suspect they'll find they've bitten off more than they can chew."

Felton held his gaze for a few seconds, then slowly nodded. "Perhaps so, especially if you achieve a full breakthrough in analyzing the sabotage. We shall see."

Jamar Tostral, fourth scion of her house, felt the final product of her day's efforts solidify into finality, and slumped in exhaustion. Finally. Three unified structures at Tier 8 done, and I've made the first part of the Tier 7 one. She sighed and all but collapsed into her bedding. Spending all day every day relentlessly focusing on my advancement is incredibly bothersome, but it will all be worth it in the end. I'll pull ahead of Carlos, and he'll never know what hit him!

Royal Guard Captain Yolon suppressed a yawn of boredom as he marched along the walls of Castle Lerjen. He swept his gaze searchingly across the twilight horizon, yet again finding nothing unusual. Come on, you bastards, it's been two whole days! Where's the exciting combat I was hoping for on this assignment? Don't tell me you chickened out already, after that display of dozens of concurrent raids.

He glanced over the familiar sight of the castle's interior. One squad of House Lerjen's own guards was doing combat drills in a cordoned-off section of the courtyard, and occasionally someone randomly strolled along one of the paved paths on some unknown errand. Other squads manned the ramparts of the castle, and they were passably attentive to their duties, but Yolon had noticed them grumbling about it when they thought he couldn't hear. They're putting on a show to try to look good in front of the Crown Guards, all four of us that are here, but they don't truly take their jobs seriously. He restrained himself from shaking his head at them. They'd be of limited usefulness anyway; their soul plans are weak. Then again, I suppose they're likely on par with the raiders – if any raid ever actually shows up here.

Yolon returned his attention to the surrounding countryside. House Lerjen didn't get hit by the first wave of raids, but that means the people who did this will be more likely to hit them the next time, right? The daylight was nearly done fading into night, but that didn't pose much of an obstacle to any royal guard.

An alert popped up in his helmet, but he smoothly continued his march, hiding any outward sign that anything had happened. Hmm? A Level 35 mana signature, likely a person, approaching at speed. Could this be it, finally? Another alert popped up, marking the approach of another dozen slightly weaker mana signatures coming just behind the first one. At the same moment, he spotted movement with his enhanced eyesight in the locations the alerts had marked. Yep, definitely people, definitely armed, and definitely not friendly. Excellent. He grinned and covertly readied himself to spring into action.

He watched as the lead figure reached the base of the wall and ran up it to the top. The assailant had chosen his entry point well, in the deepest dimness between lights and as far as possible from any House Lerjen guards. At the last moment, Yolon flew across a hundred feet of distance to meet him with his spear, stabbing straight through the man's armor to impale his heart. Yolon observed the enchanted spike in the man's left hand and the long chains hanging from it, which the other hostiles were already starting to grasp at below, and kicked the man's corpse off from his spear. The body hit the ground with a heavy thud, and the dozen or so other attackers paused as if frozen in shock and uncertainty.

Yolon looked down at them and shook his head exasperatedly. Really? Is that all?

Royal Guard Captain Serbin cursed to himself as he deflected yet another strike from a heavy mace. Who the hell are these people? Did a high house send all of their best elites for this? Why is High House Miyob worth such a commitment?

He ducked, blocked, parried, and dodged attack after attack from the six enemies surrounding him, uncomfortably aware of how many hits had already gotten through to hit his armor. He lashed out and spun with his spear extended, but his opponents smoothly backed off just far enough and then flowed back in like dancers to resume pressing their advantage. Another blow rang off of his helmet, and he lunged forward to make use of the imparted momentum. His spear sank its tip into a joint of his target's armor, but the enemies on either side forced him to withdraw before he could leverage the strike into more than a shallow nick of the flesh beneath.

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Someone should have joined me by now, unless the entire squad is as beset as I am, and House Miyob's forces as well. My armor can't take many more hits this strong, either. Serbin parried three attacks at once, shoved the collection of weapons back, and touched his mana to a specific control point in his armor even as he whirled to fend off the attacks of his other three opponents. Bright light flashed, thunder roared, and most importantly, a powerful wave of mana erupted in all directions, crafted to inflict a bout of dizziness on anyone it touched.

The effect wouldn't work for long against opponents of this caliber, but Serbin didn't need long for what he intended. He leaped upward, gaining dozens of feet of altitude in an instant before he even engaged his armor's flight enchantment. He soared higher and quickly took stock of the situation. First, he looked to the locations of his subordinates, marked on his armor's displayed map. All three were at their assigned posts, all three fighting valiantly against groups of four.

Corporal Prola had killed one, but three more still had him hemmed in and were keeping him thoroughly busy. The other two royal guards in his squad were each fighting four enemies, organized in pairs that covered for each other. As for House Miyob's standing forces, half of them were down already, and the rest were fiercely engaged in a sprawling brawl all across the walls. Reinforcements were starting to arrive from the barracks, but they were having trouble getting to the places they were needed.

Serbin looked back at where he'd just jumped from, and saw that three of his own opponents had taken flight to pursue him in the air, while the other three had equipped bows and were about to shoot at him. Already? Damn, that was even faster than I expected. He juked sharply, speeding back and downward a dozen feet. Two arrows zipped through where he'd just been, and his flying foes struggled to turn as sharply as he had, but the third archer had waited just a moment longer and adjusted for his evasive maneuver. He reacted just fast enough to turn it into a glancing blow on his leg, but it still hit.

Dammit, we need backup. Time to call it in. He triggered the emergency signal enchantment and dove for the wall. Here's hoping that these people don't have the fancy sabotage stuff we were warned about. He landed on the wall with a loud clang, his spear leading the way, and a last-second flicker of his spear to one side finally caught an enemy off guard enough to land a decisive hit. The archers had already dropped their bows, but he caught one of them still drawing his mace, making his movements too awkward to defend properly until it was too late.

Then the other three enemy soldiers, who seemed to have been assigned to harass him personally, caught up with him again, and he barely managed to pull his spear back out quickly enough to defend adequately. He exchanged blows perhaps a dozen more times, taking more hits on his armor in exchange for at best superficial wounds in return, before something changed.

A new presence appeared, unmistakable even with his undeveloped raw mana sense, and a wave of pressure washed over the entire battle. A feeling of absolute power descended upon them all, and three of Serbin's five remaining opponents trembled in fear. He grinned and took advantage of the moment of distraction to cut off one's hand and stab the throat of another. And then the battle ended.

Princess Lornera Kalor, resplendent in her orichalcum raiment, beheaded two of Serbin's three remaining opponents with a casual sweep of her hands, grabbed the last one by the throat, and proceeded to carry her captive around the battlements while she dealt with the few pockets of raiders who didn't give up before she reached them. Serbin, ever dutiful, swept along the wall to the left while the princess went right, but even he encountered little real resistance. Most of his would-be opponents recognized that the princess's arrival made any further fighting pointless.

Captain Serbin marched over to Princess Lornera and held a salute until she eventually acknowledged him. Lornera gazed at the man she'd dragged around a battle by the neck, then sighed and tossed him aside. "I went to the bother of taking him alive, and he responded with some manner of suicide. Oh well, I doubt he had any truly important information to divulge anyway. We already know who is responsible for this – the faction of nobles agitating about the rotation agreement."

Lornera straightened and faced the captain squarely. "Alright, Captain… Serbin? Report."

The next day, High Lord Recindril Tostral leaned forward over the pile of reports on his desk and restrained a groan. So many raids failed. I didn't expect the Crown to respond so decisively. We could have handled the royal guards. He grimaced. Well, in some of the raids, anyway. But personal intervention by the Kalor scions? How can we possibly handle that when they just show up anywhere without warning?

He shuffled some papers around, sorting through what assets he could call on. I might have to talk some nobles into personally taking part in this to handle the royal guards well, but even that would fall short against a Crown prince. He stared at a summary of available combatants, willing it to somehow expand with a solution, then shook his head at his own silliness. We might have to move up the timetable and just go with the houses we already have on our side. Well, let's see, just what would that look like…

Lord Recindril was absorbed deeply in an analysis of wargaming a civil war scenario – rather than the full rebellion scenario he was hoping for – when someone knocked on his door. The knock repeated, and he looked up and glared at the door for a moment. "This had better be important. I'm busy."

"A delivery for you, my lord." The reply was muffled somewhat by the closed door, but still clear.

Recindril blinked, then rushed to the door and slammed it open. "A delivery? Who even knows where this place is, to be able to send a delivery here?"

One of his soldiers stood at the door and bowed to him, holding out an envelope. "No idea, my lord, but it came with a letter addressed to you."

Recindril looked at the envelope, eyed it suspiciously for a moment, then grabbed it. It was labeled with his name and title on the front and sealed with a powerfully-enchanted circle of wax, marked with only the runes of its enchantment. He recognized the feel of a lock enchantment waiting for the right mana signature – his mana signature – to unlock it, and quickly provided it. The wax seal unfastened itself, and he took out the letter inside to read.

High Lord Recindril Tostral, champion of the rotation agreement and resistance against the Crown,

Consider me an interested third party in your conflict, if you will. I want you to succeed, but I lack the power to fight directly as things stand. I can contribute in other ways, however, such as with the large stockpile of enchanted variable-destination teleport items in the chest that accompanies this letter. I am also donating a number of signal devices designed to work together with them – the teleport items can be set to teleport to near the location of a specified signal item, among other things.

My identity must remain secret, unfortunately. I'm sure you understand, in light of the Enchanters Guild's policy regarding anyone outside their own guild who discovers the secret of how to create runic enchantments.

Good luck. I hope this contribution helps.