Possibilities Emerge

[Goddess’s Gift of Mastery] was an amazing skill, and Darx had used it to gain an incredibly powerful rare ability, [Harmonic Drain]. The ability to steal a skill from anyone was ridiculous enough, but that wasn’t all the Goddess’s gift offered him. He could also copy abilities, without stealing them. They wouldn’t be as powerful as the real skill, but it would let him borrow abilities from his friends. That was the part of the ability he was thinking about when Wendy’s ability to Nullify magic entirely made him wonder what copying it would look like. And a rare ability like that in his hands could be a powerful tool in impressing the Dark Elves.

Darx looked to the red-haired fighter, “Wendy, can you come over here?”

“Sure Darx.” Wendy said as she walked over, not suspecting anything.

“I want to try something, I’m curious to see how it will work.” Darx commented.

Darx walked over to Wendy, activated the less powerful form of [Goddess’s Gift of Mastery], put his hand near Wendy and said [Null Field].

“What?” Wendy asked.

“You’ll see, at least I hope you will. . . Honestly, I don’t know what to expect.” He answered.

“What are we doing Darx?” Syvis asked.

“Attack me Syvis, with one magic attack.” Darx requested.

“Are you serious?” Syvis answered. “That’s what you want?”

He just looked at her. “Please.”

Syvis shrugged, “Okay.” She pulled out her book and sent a water ball at him. It came towards him but a little more than a foot away from him it dissipated, the water lost form and splashed harmlessly to the ground.

“What?” Wendy exclaimed. “That’s. . . “

“Again.” Darx said to Syvis. She launched another ball of water at him, it smacked him in the chest, staggering him.

Darx started to wipe the water away.

"What is going on?" Syvis asked.

"Yes, what is going on Darx? How did you. . ." Wendy looked confused.

Darx closed his eyes, brought up [Goddess's Gift of Mastery] again. The spot where he had copied Wendy's [Null Field] was empty now, but he had copied it, he knew he had. Darx reached for Wendy as he activated the gift again. "Null Field," he stated. He could feel it, it was copied, but it was a different name, [Null Barrier].

"What did you just do, Darx?" Wendy asked, her voice slightly agitated.

Syvis sent a [Water Ball] Darx's way, it dissipated again, the magic empowering the ball of water negated, the water falling harmlessly to the ground.

"What is that?" Wendy asked, her tone harsh.

“[Goddess’s Gift of Mastery] if I’m not mistaken.” Syvis said. She shot a water ball at Wendy, it dissipated the same way. “I thought it let you steal someone’s ability, Darx.”

“It also lets me copy them.” He clarified. “Just at a lower power. Wendy’s [Null Field] becomes [Null Barrier], apparently. It seems to be like a shield that disrupts magic, when I get it back, we’ll test it more.

“Wait, Darx, you can steal abilities?” Wendy was visibly upset.

“Yes.” Darx responded. “When Syvis and I were trapped, [Imris] came and set us free. She gave me this special ability. It lets me copy other people’s abilities, or even steal them permanently.”

“So you could take. . .” Wendy looked scared.

“Are you okay Wendy?” Neku asked.

“I mean, if you stole my ability, Darx, you’d be safe. No demon magic could ever harm you again.” She looked scared, Darx hadn’t thought about this side of his power, how someone would feel knowing he could take their abilities and leave them without.

“Wendy, I’d never do that.” Darx stated.

“You wouldn’t use the ability the Goddess gave you?” Wendy questioned.

“I would, but I’d never steal yours.” Darx answered.

Wendy’s face turned red, not the fun and sexy kind of red, the angry, violent kind.

“I. . . well whose would you take then?” She demanded.

“I already stole one.” Darx explained. “A bandit attacked our caravan, he had an ability that healed him when he damaged someone. I stole it before I killed him.”

Wendy looked like she wanted to say much more, but she looked around and didn’t.

“I should have told you before I used it.” Darx said, realizing he had freaked her out. “I’m sorry Wendy. May I please copy your ability?”

Wendy took a deep breath, settled down a bit. “Yes, Darx, I know you wouldn’t. . . I mean, I trust you. You can borrow it.” She brightened up a bit. “It feels really strange to say that.”

Darx laughed, relieved she wasn’t more upset. He activated [Goddess’s Gift of Mastery] again. He could tell that both spots where he could copy an ability were empty, but he could also tell it wasn’t ready to be used again. He knew he could copy two abilities, apparently there was some kind of a recharge time.

Darx waited. He talked to Wendy about tests the Royal Guard had done on her ability when she had signed up. It disrupted magic but it didn't cancel physical results of the magic. Like the [Water Ball], the magic holding it into a ball and propelling it forcefully ended when the sphere contacted the barrier, but the water didn't vanish. It just lost all momentum and form. Almost every minute Darx tried again to copy her ability, about ten minutes after he first copied her [Null Field] he succeeded in copying it again.

Darx took some time to study the [Null Barrier he had just created. He could sense the barrier was in front of him, like a large, floating shield. To be more accurate a shield shaped lack of something, like a void. He reached his hand through the barrier with no problem. It was strange.

"Wendy, swing your sword through this space." Darx requested, moving his hand through the area the field was. Wendy drew her sword and flicked it back and forth through the barrier, it didn't do anything.

“Okay Syvis," Darx stated. "This time lets do two attacks, one from in front, one from behind, I think the one behind me will hit.”

Syvis summoned her water elemental, it moved behind him, and Syvis and her elemental both launched water balls at him. Darx had been correct. The one in front of him fizzled as it hit the barrier. As he saw it dissipate the other one smacked him from behind, knocking him to the ground.

The other slot was already available to copy a skill so Darx copied [Null Field] again.

“Okay Syvis, we’re going to do that again. But this time, send something stronger at my front.”

“Are you sure Darx?” She asked.

“Trust me Syvis.” Darx stated. Syvis nodded.

Darx called up his [Water Barrier], kept it tight to himself. “Okay, go.”

A snake of fire surrounded Syvis’ body, then she flung it at him, the [Null Barrier] held, dissipating the magic of her fire spell. None of the fire got through to his [Water Barrier]. A water ball from her elemental hit him from behind, smacking harmlessly as his [Water Barrier] easily stopped it.

"Okay. so we've verified the barrier is in front of you, and it seems to work for only a single spell." Syvis stated, Darx smiled when he looked at her, her serious expression the same as it was every day when she was training them at the castle.

“Do you have any stronger attacks?” He asked her.

“How strong, Darx?” She replied.

“The strongest you have.” Darx requested.

"You think it will work?" Syvis asked.

"Only one way to find out." Darx answered. When he could create another [Null Barrier] he did, and Syvis backed up, giving him room.

“Okay,” she said, “This is something I haven't ever shown.”

Darx was excited, Syvis was about to reveal a powerful attack, he was excited to see it and whether his [Null Barrier] could stop it.

Syvis summoned both her Earth and Fire elementals. The two summons then moved into each other, forming the larger magma golem. It stepped behind Syvis, towering over her.

Syvis looked to Darx, a bit of worry in her eyes. “Are you sure about this?” She asked.

Darx knew Syvis was powerful, and he had seen that magma golem in action, so he was rightfully worried. But Darx also wanted a real test. He wanted to know how strong this [Null Barrier] truly was. He looked to Syvis and nodded.

“Be ready to move.” She said, then closed her eyes to focus, her hands in front of her, clasping her book. In unison both Syvis and the magma summon extended their hands. They each shot a stream of molten rock, the streams met and swirled around each other, a twisting double-flow of magma that came right at Darx.

“Shit!” Darx flinched and braced. But the lava stream hit the barrier and dissipated, at least for a couple of seconds, then the barrier broke and the lava hit his [Water Barrier].

“Stop!” he yelled as he felt his [Water Barrier] absorb the damage and start to collapse. He tried to jump to the side but he couldn't, something was holding him there. Darx opened his eyes to see Wendy in front of him, holding onto him. Behind her the twisting lava flow was dissipating off of her [Null Field], the spell unable to touch her at all. It was a great example of the limitations of his copy of her ability.

“Goddess, Darx, that was insane.” Neku yelled.

“So the copied [Null Field] doesn't stop you from casting.” Syvis stated once she had dismissed her summons. "But it also seems quite limited in how much magic it can disrupt."

“No, it’s just a barrier in front of me, not an aura like Wendy's. I kept my [Water Barrier] behind it, they never touched.” Darx answered.

“Interesting.” Syvis replied, her gaze drifting to the side as she thought.

“Do you think that will impress your father?” Darx questioned.

Syvis looked back at Darx, her face an unreadable tangle of emotions. Then her face focused as she realized what Darx was thinking.

“That likely depends how much you can take.” Syvis responded thoughtfully.

“The new S-rank Dark Elf is a cleric, right? I wonder how strong his attack magic is.” Darx thought out loud.

“He’s an S-Rank, Darx.” Syvis answered. “Trust me, he’ll be strong.”

“If I can block one of his strongest shots as a B-rank, that should impress them.” Darx mused.

“Yes, Darx, that would impress anyone.” Syvis said, deep in thought.

“Okay, I need to work on it, get it more fluid. See how close it can be to my [Water Barrier].”

“Can you copy any skill?” Syvis asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” He replied.

“What about S-rank skills?” She questioned.

“I assume so. Remember the ones I copy are weaker than the real one, so it might not be as good. And I’d need to know the name of the skill, I don’t know if any S-Rank skill names are known.”

“They don’t show up on the cards, very few of them are publicly known.” Syvis said, clearly in her own head.

“Darx, do you need me still?” Syvis asked. Darx heard it, but it registered differently than she had meant it, more long term. . . Did he need her? He looked at her. For a moment in this room, practicing magic, testing his ability, it felt like old times. Seeing her analyze his failings, helping him improve. It felt like before, and feeling that way again hurt. The dark energy, the abyss wasn’t there waiting for him when he thought about her anymore, but the pain was still there, the memory, the betrayal.

Syvis looked towards Darx, saw his face. She saw the way he looked at her, and she looked like she might break.

“I’m so sorry Darx.” She cried. “I ruined everything.”

“I forgive you Syvis, I really do.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself.” She said, then ran out of the room.

Darx watched her go. Saw Neku follow her out. A part of him wanted to chase after her, but for what? He wanted her to be alright; he still cared about her, and after talking to her yesterday, he could at least understand why she made the choices she made. But that didn’t make her choices right, and it didn’t change that he could never be with her like that again.

Wendy stayed in the safe room with Darx so he could practice copying her [Null Field]. Each time the barrier fell the copied skill would be gone, and take about ten minutes for that slot to be ready to copy another skill again. If he waited for both slots to be up he could copy the ability twice, and the [Null Barrier] would be doubled. If he tried Darx could even move the shields, and with a lot of focus, he could have two of them facing different directions. He could also dismiss the barrier at will. To experiment, Darx copied one of Wendy’s other abilities, [Fast Blade] and it didn’t go away after he used it, or when she left the room for a while, it stayed until he replaced it. It made sense with [Null Field] being an always active skill that it’s weaker version would break and leave the slot empty, while skills that had to be activated would just stay in the slot waiting for him to activate them again.

Within an hour he had learned a lot about his special skill, and he was getting good at shaping his water barrier close to the edge of the [Null Barrier]. If he let the [Water Barrier] touch the [Null Barrier] it would disrupt the magic where it touched. [Null Barrier] would be consumed and [Water Barrier] would fizzle and collapse. He found it interesting. Testing the limits of the barrier with his different spells, seeing how it affected different things. The one thing he didn’t do was send one of his summons into it. He didn’t know how that would work. The summons were spirits, they were alive, at least, kind of? He didn’t think it was right to experiment on them like that.

Sadly, an hour was all he could handle. He kept ramping up the tests and his mana ran out. He and Wendy headed upstairs. She was hungry again, and had been bored by the whole process. Her power had been popular with people in the palace. They ran a bunch of tests on her [Null Field] when she joined the Royal Guard. She hadn’t enjoyed it then, and Darx testing a copy of it wasn’t fun for her either.

Darx bought Wendy’s meal for her and sat down. It felt good to do some training again. It felt good to be in his guild too. Being in the hospital and then in the church had been a little stifling. Testing and training his abilities felt like being an adventurer again, it felt like old times, the days before the quest to the caverns.

Thinking like that brought his mind back to Syvis, and her family that was on their way to see him. He had six days until the Dark Elf delegation arrived, six days until Syvis’ family came to evaluate him. Not that long ago he would have been nervous to face her father for a very different reason, but that was all gone now, and something bigger was in its place. The fate of the alliance, the war, the kingdom, all the people. . . He had to pull it off, he had to convince the Dark Elf king that he was the Heir of Zrephia. With [Null Barrier], Darx felt like he was closer to pulling it off.

Wendy and Darx ate, talked about other things. He asked about her time in the Royal Guard, her friends there, the princess. Wendy asked him about Merton, what his life had been like growing up. It felt nice, a break from all the crazy things that had been going on. They were almost done eating when Estella and Neku walked into the tavern and called to them. Neku was smiling, Estella looked serious. Darx and Wendy joined them, went to Estella’s office.

“She has a lead on Amelia.” Neku blurted out as soon as the door was secure.

“Neku.” Estella scolded.

Neku’s smile vanished, “sorry” she said softly.

“You found her?” Darx questioned.

“Darx. . .” Estella started.

“Yes or No.” Darx demanded, it felt like Estella was about to give him a lecture and he didn’t care, he needed to find Amelia.

“I think we found her.”

“Where?” Darx demanded.

“North Riledo.” Estella answered. The slums, the area of the city not under the jurisdiction of any of the big three guilds. She rolled out part of a large map of the city, just showing the castle and north of it. “I spotted her moving through here. At least, I think it is her.” Estella drew a line with her finger heading to the northern-most section of the city.

“How long ago?” Darx asked.

“Just now.” She said.

“Are you following her?”

“I’m trying, Darx.” Estella answered, “She’s surprisingly good at evading my birds.”

“So we just search the north district.” Darx said and turned toward the door.

“Darx, we have no jurisdiction there.” Estella said as she followed him out of her office.

“I know. I’ll grab my armor.” He answered, heading to his room.

“Neku?” Estella clearly wanted him to wait, Darx didn’t care.

“I’ll grab my gear." Neku said without hesitation. "Wendy, you coming?”

Darx smiled. He knew Neku would be with him. It was good to have someone always on his side, no matter what her reasons were.

“You realize where we are going, right?" Wendy pointed to the part of the map Estella had told them Amelia was heading. "That’s the red district.” Wendy asked. Her voice had fear in it. Darx stopped, turned to face her.

“You don’t have to come Wendy, we understand.” He said. He knew she grew up in the slums. If she didn’t want to go back there he would understand.

“No, I’m in.” Wendy responded. “Just be ready, our armor will make us stand out.”

“Okay.” Darx answered. Wendy made a good point, walking through the slums in armor an average citizen couldn't afford would make it impossible to blend in, but going there under-protected would be a much worse idea. “Go get geared up, Wendy. We’ll meet behind the Castle.”

Wendy nodded and headed out. Darx grabbed what he needed from his room and met Neku in the hallway. Estella gave them both tabards with the guild insignia to wear in the north district. It wouldn’t protect them, but it would remind anyone that thought of attacking them that someone would come looking for them if they didn’t return. Estella’s crows were known in the city, so wearing a Midnight Dawn tabard would also have them worried about being seen by Estella. It was as much security as they could hope for.

Estella gave Darx a bag with several healing potions. She reminded him to be careful and promised to keep tabs on them so she could help lead them to Amelia if she caught sight of her.

“Thank you, really. I value your assistance.” Darx said to his guild leader.

“Just don’t get yourself killed.” Estella answered, adjusting his tabard like a concerned big sister.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be with him.” Neku stated, flourishing her spear.

Darx had been in the north district before with Mia, when they were looking for Fabe. It wasn’t the safest place. But Mia and he had been two C-ranks, there were three of them this time and they were all B-ranks, and it wasn’t like Amelia was going to fight them. They should be fine. Right?