Victor of Tucson

5 – Domain

“I think I want to try the one from the dungeon book.” Victor and Tes had spent several days deciphering the strange elder magic book he’d gotten in the Iron Prison. At first, it seemed to have bits of patterns without a greater purpose—Energy direction nodes, Energy density weaves, Energy gateways, feedback loops, containment matrices, reversal nodes, conversion threads, and dozens of other pattern components. When Victor began to understand the pages and pages of spell components, he thought he’d gotten some sort of ancient primer on elder magic.

In a way, he was right; it was a primer, but Tes had shown him how the first few seemingly disparate components could be put together to form the skeleton of a spell pattern. From there, Victor had diligently added the other pieces of the puzzle to the whole. It wasn’t a primer on Elder magic in general; it was a guidebook that deconstructed a highly complex pattern, one that filled an entire—albeit small—book.

Tes leaned back on her elbows, her eyes fixed on the bonfire. There were more embers than flames now, but its heat was comfortable in the cool, nighttime sea breeze. “I’m not sure you’re ready for that one.”

“What’s going to happen to me if I’m not?” The question was rhetorical. Victor was pretty sure all that would happen was that he’d fail to cast it.

“It might completely drain your Core, and then you’ll feel sick for a little while.”

Victor nodded, flipping through his “elder magic book” to the nearly thirty pages dedicated to the “dungeon book’s” spell pattern. “That’s all right. I’ll be ready for a break after this, anyway.”

Tes yawned and then stood up, nodding. “I’m going to walk along the beach for a while. Maybe I’ll go for a swim. It’ll take you a long time to build that pattern.”

“You’ll come back before I cast it, though, yeah?”

Victor smiled, watching her walk lithely over the sand to the gentle, moonlit waves. He sat down and put the book in his lap, and when he glanced up at Tes again, she was gone, but he swore he caught a glimpse of a great blue-scaled tail slipping into the silvery water. “Shit,” he chuckled, “wouldn’t want to be a fish around here right now.” He watched the water for another minute or two, but when Tes didn’t surface and he saw no sign of her, he turned back to his book and began reviewing the long, complicated, multi-faceted spell pattern.

Copying a complex pattern into his Energy pathways was one of Victor’s fortes. The ability to hold Energy where he wanted it was tied to his will attribute, and with that being his primary focus for most of his career as an Energy user, the spell didn’t start getting difficult for him until he’d made it about halfway into the pattern. Pulling his inner eye back, seeing what he’d built as a whole—all three dimensions of the elder magic pattern—he found it hard to believe he was only halfway through it. It was like a hollow cone, with both ends open to Energy strands, filled with loops, whorls, angles, shapes, and intricate weaves.

Of course, he’d chosen inspiration-attuned Energy to build the spell the first time. Part of the pattern was an Energy differentiation matrix, and Tes had taught Victor how it would take the Energy input and format it for the spell’s purposes. It was a spell designed to use the caster’s Energy to their advantage, so, unlike many of his spells, it really mattered what Energy he cast it with. That being the case, Victor didn’t want his first attempt to be with fear or rage.

In addition to inspiration being his most “positive” affinity, it seemed to respond better to his mental nudges, which made it ideal for forming a spell pattern for the first time. Even so, as Victor turned the page in his book and began adding in more and more complexity, he found himself beginning to sweat with the strain of keeping those thousands of Energy lines steady. “Come on, pinché son of a bitch,” he growled, gently, delicately tweaking his line of Energy into a bowl-shaped pattern against which a star-shaped cascade of other lines would reflect.

He was vaguely aware of soft footsteps behind him, but he couldn’t spare a glance to see if Tes had returned. He knew it was her, though; he could smell the saltwater mixed with her jasmine and citrus perfume. She sat behind him, and when her cool hands pressed against the sides of his neck, Victor felt some of his tension bleed away. “You’re doing very well, Victor. I’m quite impressed you’ve gotten this far; this is a pattern a so-called steel seeker would struggle with.”

He didn’t respond, but as she gently kneaded the tension out of his knotted neck muscles, he redoubled his efforts, continuing his work. He pushed away the excitement her touch elicited in him, and a tiny part of his mind wondered if she was helping or hindering his progress, but the proof was in the doing: he worked through two more pages in record time, adding their components to the pattern in his pathway.

He was inserting new twists, glyphs, angles, and functions on the interior of the cone now, so he had to strain his inner eye to either see past the outer layers of the pattern or he had to rotate his perspective and push his perception into the bottom of the cone. He chose the latter because it gave him a proper view of the spell’s complexity, and he could glance at the whole from the inside to ensure he wasn’t breaking anything with the new components.

Slowly but surely, he worked his way through the pages, and all the while, Tes’s fingers worked magic, draining away his tension and helping him focus. When he reached the final page, he was sure he was drenched in sweat, but he was no longer aware of his body; his entire being existed in that pathway outside his Core. If someone asked Victor to make an analogy about the effort of will it took to hold those thousands of delicate lines of Energy in place, he would have said it was like balancing a skyscraper atop his palms while participating in a log-rolling competition—absurd, but it made the point.

As he connected the final hexagonal prism of Energy lines to the dangling thread of Energy at the top of the cone’s interior, the entire pattern flashed, and Victor felt his Core drain as a flood of Energy populated the completed spell. Just as before, though, everything seemed to freeze in place, and the System sent him an unwelcome warning:

***Warning! The spell being cast does not follow System-designed iterations and may be too powerful for you. Proceed at your own risk.***

***Warning! Non-System spell pattern detected! You will only receive this warning one time. Do you wish to halt this process? YES/NO.***

Unlike with the spell pattern that he and Tes had modified, Victor looked at the first warning and gave it serious consideration. This spell was from a book he’d found in a prison dungeon for iron-rankers. It didn’t belong. Was it a trap? Was it a boon? He didn’t know, but even Tes thought it might be too much for him. Would she let him cast something that could seriously harm him, though? Now that the spell was formed—and frozen in time—he sought some reassurance. “Seriously, what’s the worst that can happen if this spell is too powerful for me?”

When she didn’t answer, and he realized her hands weren’t moving on his neck any longer, Victor looked over his shoulder to see she, too, seemed frozen in time. Was that it? Was the System stopping time, or had it moved Victor outside of time? He had a feeling his awareness had sped up or been pulled away from the normal flow of time as he understood it. After all, affecting him ought to be a whole lot easier than affecting the entire world or universe. Whatever it was doing, the System didn’t seem to like doing it long. It flashed the question again, this time with larger, red-tinted letters:

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

***Do you wish to halt this process? YES/NO.***

Gathering his courage, Victor mentally pressed the “NO” option. Again, he felt the draw on his Core, like a vortex siphoning the Energy out, and Victor watched as the world around him changed. A wall of shimmering white-gold Energy expanded away from him, forming an enormous dome, something like two hundred yards in diameter. Inside that brightly lit space, the ground shimmered in rainbow-tinted reflections as a bed of gravel appeared consisting of millions of tiny, prism-like crystals. The fire’s orange flames and embers became blue and purple, and the ocean’s waves tinkled like crystalline wind chimes as they crashed at half their normal speed.

Victor stood, his eyes wide with wonder as the clarity of inspiration filled his senses. He whirled to see Tes also on her feet, looking about, her hands covering her mouth as her big sapphire eyes filled with unshed tears. “It’s beautiful!” she cried, walking in a slow circle, the crystalline gravel tinkling with each step. “My mind is so clear! Victor, you have to talk to Valla!”

The comment, out of nowhere, was puzzling at first, but as Victor thought about it, he understood Tes’s point of view. He owed it to Valla to tell her he was home. She deserved to know Tes was there. It was important to clear the air. “I will.”

“If this…environment has this effect on us, what will it do to your enemies?” Tes wondered, reaching out to run her fingers through a slowly flickering purple flame.

“I don’t know, but I can’t hold it long. My Core’s draining like someone opened a valve into a black hole.” Victor took one more long look around, his eyes mesmerized by the dancing motes of white-gold light that seemed to float about the space like fireflies. “God, everything’s so clear!”

“It’s a wondrous spell. You’ve created an environment attuned to inspiration!”

Victor looked at the crystalline waves and then at the strangely beautiful fire, smiling almost sadly as he severed the thick ribbon of Energy connecting his nearly empty Core to the spell. When the mundane world came crashing back, dark, chilly, and clad in the usual colors of nature, he stumbled and fell backward onto the sand, catching himself on his palms. “Damn,” he laughed, “not so pretty out here anymore, is it?”

“Of course it is!” Tes laughed, skipping around the fire, her eyes bright, her smile glowing with pride and happiness. “It’ll just take a moment for the magic of your spell’s effects to fade a little, and then you can appreciate this lovely world again. I can’t wait

Victor nodded absently, having realized he had more System messages waiting:

***You have discovered a new spell: Core Domain – Epic.***

***Core Domain – Epic: You have learned to impose your will upon reality, shaping the environment into a reflection of your Core's affinity. By channeling your Energy, you create a localized domain where your chosen affinity manifests in both form and function, altering the environment to empower yourself, support allies, and suppress enemies. Each affinity dictates the domain's effects, making it a versatile but demanding tool. The domain persists for as long as your Energy sustains it, and its influence grows with the strength of your will. Energy Cost: Variable. The greater the Energy invested, the larger and more potent the domain. Prolonged use risks feedback effects, including exhaustion, emotional strain, or destabilization of your Core.***

***Warning! This spell is not System-designed! Use it with caution—there are no safeguards in place. This is the only time you will receive this warning!***

Victor read the description twice, then, grinning, read it to Tes. He finished with a question, “Be honest; did you know what the spell would do?”

She shook her head, looking down at her feet where her toes wriggled in the sand. A moment later, she sat beside him and sighed deeply. “I knew it was a spell that would affect the environment, and I could tell it was sophisticated with many different effects based on the Energy being poured into it. Other than that, though, I wasn’t sure. I think I could have studied each component in relation to those around it and come up with a better estimation, but I thought it would be safe to try with a positive Energy source like your inspiration.”

Victor’s eyes widened. “Shit, man, I didn’t think about that! What’s it going to be like when I cast it with fear or rage?”

“Or justice or courage or glory? You know, those other Energy weaves you started might provide even more potent alternatives. You should work on finishing them.”

Victor nodded idly, drawing his fingers through the sand as the fire popped. He’d begun the work of trying to weave glory and fear into some of his other Energies, but it was complicated stuff, and he’d been met with failure so many times that he’d put it on a back burner. Tes was right, though; he was probably missing out on some serious potential.

Another topic was on the tip of his tongue, however. “Why do you think the System still gives me a spell description and adds the new spell to my status sheet? If it doesn’t like people stepping outside its influence, you’d think it would ignore the new spell and make me figure out what it does and keep track of it.”

“The System isn’t foolish. It wants to keep you a part of it for as long as possible. By acknowledging your success, despite its efforts to dissuade you, it reminds you of its utility and, I suppose, helps smooth over any animosity its warnings might have engendered.”

“So, it knows I’m doing my own thing, but it wants to keep some hooks in me.”

“You’re doing your ‘own thing’ to a degree. You’re still gaining levels and earning new skills and spells under the System’s care. Things will change a little when you build your own Class, but even then, the System will take part in your milestones. Unless you break from it, that is.” Tes spoke softly, mimicking his behavior by idly drawing stars and circles in the sand while she spoke.

“Do you think I should do that?”

She shook her head and then leaned her cheek against Victor’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t. Not until you’ve gained all you can from it. Not until you’re ready to stand on your own against the System zealots out there like your two friends who paid us a visit earlier.”

Victor was quiet for a while, thinking about Fox and Three, wondering when they’d next come calling. It felt like they followed some kind of unspoken code. Would they leave him alone as long as he didn’t spread his use of non-System magic to others? As long as he didn’t “disrupt?” He didn’t want to dwell on it at the moment because he’d had another question for Tes, one he was a little reluctant to bring up but couldn’t keep from popping back into his mind. “When I created my inspiration domain, the first thing you said was that I should talk to Valla. Is that because it’s been on your mind?”

Tes sighed again and sat up straight, shifting to look more directly at him. “It has been, yes. I’m sure you realized the wisdom of the words while you were in your domain. Didn’t you? You agreed immediately.”

“Yes.” Victor nodded, smiling crookedly. “It was good for me to break contact with her for a while, but I owe it to her to write. She should know I’m home. She should know you returned. I should be interested in what she’s been doing. Valla’s never been anything but good and kind and supportive to me. Well, until she decided we needed a break, that is.” He chuckled ruefully, and Tes playfully punched his knee.

“You have such big emotions. It must have been so hard for her to talk to you about that! She must have been terrified.”

“What? Terrified? Of me?”

“Of how you would take it. She loves you, and I’m sure she was worried about you flying off in a rage or becoming self-destructive or—”

“I get it, I get it.” Victor waved a hand, then laid back in the sand, staring up at the brilliant expanse of stars. “You were right.”

“About?” Tes, too, laid back in the sand, cushioning her head with an arm.

“About the world becoming beautiful again after the spell faded a bit.”

“That’s not the world!” She chased the words with trilling laughter, and Victor groaned.

“You know what I mean.”

“I do. So? Are you done with new spells for the night? Shall we return to your home and see what dear Governor ap’Dommic has had the staff prepare?”

“Um, yeah, I suppose. We can do some more in the morning before we fly over to the Shadeni encampment.”

“Encampment? Don’t they build permanent structures?” Tes hopped to her feet and held out a hand. Victor took it, and she grunted, hoisting him up. “You’re like a sack of lead bones!”

“Oh, please! You could throw me halfway across that sea if you wanted. As for the Shadeni, that’s a good point. They used to be nomadic, but, yeah, I bet they’ve built up quite a little town by now.”

“Shall we fly back to the house?” Tes arched an eyebrow.

“Let’s walk through town. I want to see what’s been built and maybe say hi to a few more folks. That okay?”

“It’s perfect!” Tes took his elbow and leaned against him as they strolled up from the beach, and Victor did his best to simply enjoy the moment without fixating on his desires for the future. Things were going well, and one thing he knew about life and people was that if you gave it or them an excuse, things could go from good to shit in the blink of an eye. So, he savored Tes’s closeness, the beautiful weather, and the breathtaking field of stars overhead. With a warm heart and a smile, he waved at the people lingering around the front deck of the tavern on the edge of the village—The Ninth’s Rest.