"Ormir, how are the supplies coming?" asked Joseph, as people scrambled to get back to work after watching him fight the dragon."Did you just let that dragon go?" he asked in disbelief.
"Oh no, he"s just going to get his stuff. He"s coming with us."
"What?" squeaked the dragon-kin, his eyes growing large.
"It"s not even a real dragon," said Stella, "The one"s in our realm are much larger."
"That"s the biggest dragon I"ve ever seen," whispered Ormir, shaking his head as he picked up his papers. It took him several minutes to get his focus back, and he laid out his papers on the table.
"The food storehouses have all been moved here, for easy access once the move is done. There"s enough for maybe a week, tops. We won"t have all of our animals moved in time, there"s just not enough room for all of them. I"ve had the overflow moved here, to this pasture at the foot of the mountain. A runner should be here any time to verify when they"re done with that. I hope you have an idea on water, because the rivers will stop when you move us. And the animal feed is here, in these barns at the foot of the mountain. I had to put it there, to make sure that no one would mistake it for our food."
Joseph nodded as he looked over the scrawled handwriting. His minimap had already verified that all of his subjects were in place. It was almost time to start this move.
"Joseph, I"m done with the spells," said Joe in his head.
(YOU HAVE LEARNED PLANAR BEACON, PLANE SHIFT, AND PLANAR GATE. YOU ARE AWARDED 3 LIFE POINTS.)
"Alright everyone, it"s time."
BODY DOUBLE.
Joe appeared next to him, looking to be his twin. This was the highest level of illusion he had, and Joseph was planning to use this to explore the wastelands, without harming his real body. It was capable of altering reality in order to create a real body when needed. It wouldn"t replace his own, though, just offer a temporary alternative.
PLANAR BEACON.
The magical circle filled the sky above the mountain, centered on the pinnacle.
"Joe," said Joseph, turning to him, and Joe nodded, disappearing. It was so weird having silence in his head, Joseph wasn"t sure if he liked it or not.
"Where did he go?" asked Stella, still looking up at the magical circle above them.
"He went home to gather mana from the generator," said Joseph, preparing himself mentally for the next part.
A loud roar filled the sky as the dragon returned, settling gently on the ground with a large bundle between his claws.
"Made it!" he beamed, showing his sharp teeth. People who had paused in their work at the appearance of the beacon, ran screaming at the arrival of the dragon. It didn"t bother him though, and he settled down to watch the show.
"How is he getting enough mana?" asked Stella, ignoring the dragon.
"He"s going to be sending it to me," said Joseph, raising into the air as the mana started to manifest.
Stella rose up off the ground, making sure to stay in his mana territory. If there was ever a time that he needed her mana stabilizing ability, now was it. He threw his hands out as he began to cast the next spell. The mana raced out over the mountain, to the edges that he had chosen, including the pasture that Ormir had mentioned.
MOVE TERRAIN.
The entire mountain and the land he had chosen around it, with everyone and everything on it, began to shrink, until it floated in front of them, small enough to fit on Joseph"s outstretched palm.
"Wow," Stella whispered. "Could you do that to just anyone? Shrink them like that?"
Joseph glanced at her, with a smile on his face. "No, they have to be willing. Everyone on the mountain already knew I was moving the mountain, so there was no contest of wills. Mine would win anyway… Time to go home."
PLANE SHIFT.
Everything immediately around them seemed to shift, and they were floating above the plains just north of the area claimed by his father.
Joseph took off, towards the ground below, still holding the shrunk mountain in his hand.
ALTER TERRAIN.
Using the mana that Joe was still sending him, he began to move the land so that it would form the same shape as the hole he had left when he shrunk the mountain. That way it would be stable.
After several hours, the sky above had darkened and stars were starting to appear.
"Is it ready?" asked Stella, looking over the ma.s.sive crater he had finished forming.
"Yep," he said, holding up the mountain. With an underhanded toss, he threw the mountain.
"Joseph!" cried Stella, her eyes growing wide in shock. "Why did you!?"
Her cries were cut off as he released the spell, and the mountain began to grow into its former size, settling into the crater gently.
"What? I was gentle. It was an underhanded throw…"
She looked at him, as if she couldn"t believe him.
"It"s all magic, after all."
Rolling her eyes, she followed him as they flew down to where Ormir was standing.
"That was the weirdest thing," muttered the dragon-kin, holding his head.
Nothing was out of place, despite his underhanded throw, and Joseph gave her a look, raising his eyebrows. She just shook her head.
"I have things I need to tend to," said Joseph, to Ormir, once he could see that everyone was fine. Stella followed him as he flew back to the castle.
"System, I know what I want as the Wizar racial template."
Wizar
Common Traits
Mana enhancer (50)
Magery 0 (5) – considered a mage for the purposes of spells and items limited to mages
Sanitized Metabolism (1)
Reproduction Control (1) – control production of gametes consciously
Light Menses (0) – female only
Easy Childbirth (0) – female only
Shorter Gestation (0) – female only, 6 months
Early Maturation 2 (0) – grow to adulthood in 4 years
Extended Lifespan 2 (4) – maximum age 4 times human
Photographic Memory (10) – perfect memory
Less Sleep 5 (10) – need 5 hours less sleep a night
Reduced Consumption 4 (8) – 1 meal needed per month
Fit (5) – fatigue from strenuous activity is reduced by half
Flexible (5) – flexible and get bonuses to all activities that would benefit from this
Subsonic Hearing (5) – may hear low frequency sounds such as origin words
Honest Face (1) – look honest
Sense of Duty (-5) – Kingdom
Honesty Extreme (-30) – you will obey the law and do your best to get others to as well
Wizar can activate items requiring the wielder to be a dragon, elf, fey, or Wizar.
Dragons, elves, and fey can activate items limited to Wizar.
Wizar cannot activate items requiring the wielder to be human.
Wizar women breed true.
Children choose the bloodline they want at p.u.b.erty. People who are transformed into Wizar may choose at the time of transformation.
Mage Bloodline
Magery 3 (30) – gain magical circuits and a mana heart
Subsonic Speech (5) – may speak low frequency sounds such as origin words
Compulsive Behavior Weak (-5) – the need to research
Warrior Bloodline
Combat Reflexes (15)
Very Fit (10) – recover from fatigue twice as fast
Double Jointed (10) – extremely flexible
Compulsive Behavior Weak (-5) – the need to train
(JOSEPH ARE YOU SERIOUS?? YOU WANT YOUR RACE TO HAVE THE EXTREME VERSION OF FOLLOWING THE LAW? YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE TO GIVE THAT TO YOU TOO, RIGHT?)
"Of course, but does it matter since as the absolute king, I can make the law whatever I want?"
(UM…NOT REALLY. IT"S NOT A DISADVANTAGE FOR YOU, IS IT?)
"Nope. I do intend to make good laws, but my hope is that I can get rid of the need for police."
(I"M NOT SURE IF I"M IMPRESSED, OR TERRIFIED.)
Joseph smiled and stepped to the edge of the tower, where he and Stella were standing.
"Make the message from you seem as if it is magic from me," he added as the system prepared to send out its message.
(SUBJECTS OF JOSEPH, THE MAGE KING. JOSEPH HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY THE G.o.dS AS AN ADVANCED BEING. MORE THAN HUMAN, HE IS THE FIRST OF A NEW PEOPLE NAMED THE WIZAR. CHOOSE IF YOU WISH TO LEAVE BEHIND YOUR CURRENT RACE AND JOIN HIM AS A MEMBER OF THIS NEW RACE.)