“The planes have been destroyed. Can we get out of here before they decide that the humans aren’t enough food?” Ella begged a few seconds after the defenders’ last hope had been cut off in a flurry of claws and screaming.
“Good idea. Let’s check for a good hiding spot, and then we can come back to verify later. I think I saw an alcove in the cliff on our way by.” Wolfe agreed and carefully backed away from the carnage down below them.
The alcove in question was only a hundred meters away, but it was quite a ways up the cliff face, which should reduce the number of threats. Once he had spotted it again, Wolfe picked Ella up and used gravity control to lift them up.
She let out a small squeak as they entered the alcove, then looked around in shock. “Oh, there is something here. I just saw solid rock and thought we were going to crash.”
“It’s even better this way. If I was the only one that could see in, then nothing should follow us. We should have brought a lantern or a better flashlight, though. I want to see what’s in here.” Wolfe sighed.
“Never fear. Moonlight spells are a basic part of witch magic. It’s not the brightest spell, but I can illuminate a large room quite easily.” Ella informed him, then soft white light filled the tunnel.
It turned out to be a hallway, running straight out to the open air behind them where some tremendous, presumably magical, force had torn away the mountain in the past.
Everything inside was pristine, though. The tiles had no dust on them, the doors to either side seemed unmarked by time, and even the painting on the wall, of a young man who looked a lot like Wolfe, but wearing blue Magi robes, looked freshly painted.
There was a small placard below the painting, which Wolfe read quietly to Ella as it was written entirely in Mystic Runes.
“It says Spartan Lumix on the day of his ascension to Master Magi.”
As soon as he spoke the words, a ghostly image of the man appeared in the air and bowed.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Master Magi Noxus, and your lovely bride. A witch, is she? Well, to each their own. It is an honour to welcome guests to the Lumix household after all these years.” The ghostly image spoke.
While both Wolfe and Ella were shocked into speechlessness, the image continued. “I am a combination of light and gravity magic created to welcome guests to this wing. My records say it has been over three centuries since the last guest, but it is good to see someone wearing the Mark of a noble House still.”
The image gestured to Wolfe’s arm, where the Noxus family crest was tattooed so that he would understand.
“Thank you for your hospitality. We came to relax and wait out a battle before moving back to my home. Would that be possible? I would hate to be an inconvenience.” Wolfe asked.
“Of course, pick any room you like. The food storage seems to have taken damage and spoiled, but I can offer you tea and a good book to pass the time.” The image offered.
“Thank you. If possible, do you have a spell book I could read? The Magi lost a lot over the years.” Wolfe asked while Ella looked around in wonder.
“I see that yours isn’t unlocked. It appears that your inheritance spell was damaged before transference, but that is easily remedied. Please take the room to your right, and I will be right back.”
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Even the clock on the wall had no shell and had its components suspended next to each other by magic.
To Wolfe, who was using [Detect Hidden], it was all intricately carved rocks covered in spells, but when he retracted the spell to use his sight, it was beautiful.
So this was the simple living of a magical race. They didn’t need to purchase anything fancy. They could do it all with enchantments.
The shape of the chair adjusted as Wolfe sat in it, then pulled Ella into his lap to keep her from falling over if that pale look on her face meant that she was about to pass out.
“It can all be overwhelming to a witch. They can’t see through the enchantments. I have a spell to repair your inheritance, but tell me, is it common to marry witches these days? My information at the time of the last update said that they were crude and extremely hostile, but she seems so gentle, and she wears the mark of your consort.” The ghostly helper asked.
“Of his Familiar.” Ella corrected.
“Only witches take Familiars, Miss. If you wish to annul the marriage contract, you only need to scar the Mark and refuse to accept mana to repair it for one year. A consort is not enslaved.” He replied with heavy distaste.
“My apologies. I misunderstood your meaning.” She apologized, and the helper gave her a gentle smile.
“Now, let’s fix this inheritance spell. To think that you managed to grow so strong without knowing even the basic skills of your Family. Please insert mana into the heritage stone to begin. The only one that I have available is a Lumix Family stone, but it should repair most of the damage and confer the basic knowledge that all Magi should have.”
Wolfe did as he was instructed, and the Heritage Stone, a small piece of crystal with what appeared to his enhanced senses to be microscopic writing all through it, lit up with a black light.
“We will deal with the corruption to your body and mana source later. It won’t harm the stone, and it can be slowly cleansed, though with great effort.”
The helper turned to Ella with a curious look on his face. “Tell me, Mrs. Noxus, did your mother object to this union, or was he cursed in battle?”
Wolfe smiled at the way Ella turned red when she was called Mrs. Noxus, and they both waited for her answer.
“The Coven considers being a Magi a capital crime. They cursed him just after we met.” She stammered.
The image of the magi looked intensely sad for a moment but soon returned to normal and held out the stone to Wolfe.
“Activate this, and your inheritance spell should self-repair.”
