MAGUS INFINITE

Dorrik looked at me as if I were crazy. I may not know much about the powers of a god, but after observing Dorrik all this time, I was able to figure out a thing or two, especially since I had seen him wield this power and explain to me what he was doing with it.

He had told me repeatedly that a god of stone could become stone, and this was quite fascinating, because as mages, we had something similar, but ours was more overbearing.

Attunements... they were the dividing line between an Acolyte and an Adept, and they gave a mage total immunity and control of a certain force or element at the tier they had comprehended. With the right spells, they could transform and do nearly anything within the purview of the force that they controlled.

This was a sort of power that I did not think the gods of this era had access to, or else Dorrik would be able to understand my perspective when I said I wanted something that could contain Laws.

Perhaps he was right that this power was something that belonged to the System, but I did not see it as such a bad thing. A mage should be in control of his magic, and not necessarily have to become it.

Dorrik scratched his head. ”What you are asking for is something that my Forge would not be able to do.”

I nodded, understanding settling in me; perhaps I had asked for too much in an age where beings like me did not yet exist.

”But that does not mean that I cannot create a shell for you.”

I looked up at Dorrik, and he smiled. ”Aye, a shell strong enough to contain a Law, I can create something like that. After that, it’s no longer my problem, and you have to figure out the rest for yourself.”

His words nearly made me smile like a child, and I bowed to him, showing the respect a mage gives to a teacher and a benefactor.

The Stoneborn stroked his beard, something I had noticed he did when he was pleased. Since he was in a good mood, I smiled and said, ”About the Law, can you build a shell that can hold multiple Laws?”

He froze, one hand still stroking his beard, and I smiled more deeply, making sure my body was still bent.

”How many Laws are you thinking of containing within this shell?”

”Nine... maybe more.”

”And you are aware that one Law can give birth to many lesser Laws?”

I paused. ”Yes, I am aware of that distinction.” My smile widened, and my waist bent deeper. ”Can you make this shell?”

Dorrik snorted before he began to curse aloud, while the shape inside him laughed.

∞

Dorrik had a... dirty mouth. He complained for a solid hour, which I have come to understand is how he says yes, because, well, he did not refuse me.

”You greedy, son of Heaven Dung Beetle! The size of it... the damned nesting, multiple Laws in one container do not just sit beside one another; they sit inside one another, and every layer wants to be the outermost, and I will somehow have to persuade the others to be docile and sit inside one another. Just making sure all of this works will mean working with every Law imbued in my flames, and that should take me...” he stopped and did arithmetic, out loud, three times, and got a different answer each time and settled on the largest one.

”Years,” he said. ”And that’s if nothing goes wrong and I’m not interrupted, and lad, there’s an army coming over the pass so I will be interrupted!”

I blinked; maybe Dorrik did not have to go that far... what I wanted was something simpler, but what he was describing from his muttering was a working that was enormous in scope. He was cursing aloud, but I could see fire and frenzy in his eyes. I think I had just shown this Forgemaster a project he hadn’t thought about before, and he was awfully excited about it.

Still, the time frame he was naming was slightly ridiculous. ”When you say years... how long exactly?”

”And I’ve not got the right materials.” He yelled, ignoring my question; I did not think he even heard me. ”Not for this. I could make you a fitting for one Law out of what’s on those shelves. Multiple Laws would demand so much more, and they aren’t in my mountain, and half of them I’ve not laid eyes on since before the Ordering.”

I managed to sneak in words at this point. ”Where are they?”

”Where they’ve always been,” Dorrik answered dismissively while tapping his forge. ”Out there. In the deep places, in the drowned places, in the halls of many gods.” He waved a hand. ”It’s a list, and not a short one. To leave this mountain at this point would be...”

”I’ll go.”

He stopped and looked at me in astonishment. ”You’ll go?”

I nodded. ”I am asking for something impossible, and I understand that such a creation would come with a certain price. I am ready to pay it.”

There must have been something in my voice, since Dorrik looked at me with a weird glow in his eyes; even that second self inside him was focused on me. ”You could barely stand a moment ago; do you understand the magnitude of this task? You’ve no idea what’s on that list.”

There were so many things I could say at this point, showing my convictions, but I just shrugged, ”Then write it down; I’ll read it on the way. One way or another, you will get everything that you need on that list... that is a promise I will not break.”

Dorrik stared at me until it was becoming a little uncomfortable, but I did not look away from his gaze. He needed to see the convictions that had carried me beyond death many times, and even though what I was saying to him was ludicrous, since I expected the list he was going to give me to be problematic, I had the loop, and for me that meant infinite time to acquire every single resource needed to complete the shell of my Grimoire.

The Stoneborn only broke eye contact with me when it seemed that he had become satisfied, and then he got up, and went to the rack, and pulled out a tablet from the very bottom row that I had never seen him touch, and set it on the table between us with a sound that was heavier than it should have been.

”Sit down,” he said. ”It’s a long list, and you’ll want to hear about all of it before you agree to any of it. I don’t know where you get your confidence from, but you are a very strange lad, and your body is too powerful for one with such a young soul... You are a mystery wrapped inside an enigma, and I must say, you have me curious as to your capabilities.”

He chuckled, ”This is madness, but I am very curious to see where this would lead.”