Chapter 17 - Beyond the Barrier (Patreon)

Chapter 17

Beyond the Barrier

Two hours later, they were finally off the bridge.

The healing had taken most of that time. Sumi’s spell was effective, packing several days of recovery into a few seconds of warmth and knitting tissue, but it was localized. Each wound required a separate cast, a fresh channeling of mana, and Enzo had given her plenty to work with. Dozens of glass fragments pulled from his legs one at a time, each extraction followed by a brief application of healing magic before she moved to the next. The forearm gash alone had taken three casts to close properly. Then Val’s injuries. Then Sumi’s own, which she’d handled herself, wincing through the awkward angle of healing a cut on her own shoulder.

Murph had been the only one to come through untouched. Despite the blood matting the fur on her muzzle and chest, none of it was hers. Convincing her not to leap on Enzo and lick his face while Sumi was mid-heal had been a battle of its own. One that he’d lost twice before Val grabbed Murph by the collar and held her back, the dog’s tail wagging furiously the entire time.

They rode slowly along the winding road through the Marin Headlands, the hills rising steep and green on either side. The forest here was changing, too. The same explosive growth they’d seen in the Presidio and Golden Gate Park had taken hold, trees thickening and stretching toward the sky, undergrowth pressing against the edges of the road. Ferns that should have been knee-high reached his handlebars. Branches from opposite sides of the road had begun to interlock overhead, forming a canopy that filtered the light into something green and dim.

“Guys. Look.”

Sumi’s voice was quiet. She’d stopped pedaling, rolling slowly, staring up at the hillside to their left.

He followed her gaze.

A deer stood on the ridge above them, silhouetted against the blue sky. Pure white, from its hooves to the tips of its ears. Its antlers were enormous, sweeping upward and outward in a crown of bone that no black-tailed deer should have been able to produce. Enzo had grown up hiking these hills. He knew the type of deer that lived here. This animal was something else entirely. Taller, broader, its coat so white it seemed to glow against the dark green of the overgrown hillside.

It was watching them. Not with fear. Not with the tense readiness of a wild animal caught in the open. It stood perfectly still, dark eyes tracking them as they rolled by on their bikes below, and there was a weight to its attention that reminded him, uncomfortably, of the boss Eater’s gaze on the bridge.

But there was no malice in it. Just awareness. An intelligence that hadn’t been there in any deer’s eyes before.

Val slowed beside him. “Holy shit,” she whispered.

The deer held their gaze for a long moment. Then it turned, antlers cutting a slow arc through the air, and disappeared into the trees without a sound.

None of them spoke for a while after that.

As they rode, the landscape shifted from wild overgrowth back to something more recognizably human. Cars dotted the highway, some abandoned on the shoulder, others stopped in the middle of lanes where they’d died as the technology failed.

Between bouts of mana absorption during the long healing session, they’d talked about the fight. Compared notes. Val confirmed what he’d suspected about her technique. The guide had taken what she’d done and formalized it, compressing Burst Fist and Burst Step into a single technique called Burst. The longer invocations still worked, as did the Fire modifier. It hadn’t been planned, but she’d shortened the name out of pure instinct during the fight, and the system had recognized the intent behind the word rather than the word itself.

The implications of that were significant. It meant the guide wasn’t rigid. It could adapt to its user. Enzo wondered if the same principle could apply to his own magic. If it would formalize changes, should he find a way to combine or modify his existing spells.

Something to test when they had time.

They’d also discussed the Eaters. The coordinated behavior had unsettled all three of them. One Eater sacrificing its hands to absorb Val’s strike. Another raising a guard to protect its chest. The ranged blasts fired in coordinated volleys. None of that was normal in their experience. So far, Eaters had only operated on what appeared to be instinct and hunger. The Tier 1 manipulation-type had been controlling them, adapting its tactics throughout the fight to counter their attacks. Learning from each exchange and adjusting.

When Enzo said it out loud, the word that came to mind was commanding. It hadn’t been fighting. It had been directing a battle. And the implications were terrifying.

Nobody liked that conclusion.

Off to the east, past the marshland that bordered the highway, Enzo caught a glimpse of figures on the water near Silva Island. People in small boats, fishing lines cast out into the bay. From this distance they were just shapes, barely visible, but the sight of people doing something so mundane was jarring. The world had ended and people were fishing.

It also meant there were survivors organizing. Feeding themselves. Adapting. And that was what made it make sense.

Humans were nothing if not adaptable, stubborn creatures.

They passed a motel set alongside the highway, its parking lot enclosed by chain-link fencing topped with razor wire. Armed guards stood at the entrance, watching them approach with flat expressions. One of them raised a hand, palm out. Not a wave. A warning to keep moving.

They kept moving.

Further along, they caught sight of it at the same time the smell hit them. A pile of corpses stacked on the median, most of them showing the telltale signs of Eaters that had been killed. Crushed skulls. Open chest cavities. A pair of people stood beside the pile, one holding a red plastic gas can, the other a box of matches. They paused as Enzo’s group rode past, tracking them with suspicious eyes. Neither spoke. Neither waved.

Enzo looked away and kept pedaling.

The Safeway appeared on their right as they approached the highway junction. Someone had organized a serious operation. Cars had been pushed into a barricade that wrapped around the front of the building, forming a continuous wall of metal with only a single gap that served as an entrance, blocked by what looked like a rolling gate salvaged from a storage facility. On the roof, behind stacked boxes and sandbag positions, half a dozen people stood watch. Armed with bows, crossbows, and a few spears.

No guns.

Enzo wondered if that was because bows were quieter and the ammunition reusable. Or if the mana density now affected combustion so much that they were no longer viable.

The watchers on the roof tracked them as they approached. A few raised their weapons, not quite aiming but making their intentions clear. 

Nobody stopped them. Nobody greeted them either.

After a tense few seconds, the group seemed to decide they weren’t a threat and turned their attention elsewhere.

Shortly past the Safeway, they reached their exit. The highway continued north, but the road into Mill Valley proper branched off to the left. A concrete divider separated the highway lanes from the off-ramp, waist-high and solid.

Enzo climbed over, good leg first, followed carefully by the other. 

Val hefted his bike, gear and all, over with one smooth motion, placing it on the other side and turning back to help Sumi.

While the others sorted themselves out, Enzo closed his eyes and pulled up his recent notifications once more. He’d reviewed them after the fight while they were still recovering, but one in particular kept drawing his attention back to it.

—

Eater Eliminated (x3) → Bonus Mana Capacity Provided (+30)

Tier 1 Eater Eliminated (x1) → Bonus Mana Capacity Provided (+20)

Bonus Mana Capacity reached. Increase Mana Absorption to increase bonus capacity.

Attunement (Level 5) → Attunement (Level 6)

Shield (Level 4) → Shield (Level 6)

Bolt (Level 9) → Bolt (Level 10)*

Spear (Level 4) → Spear (Level 5)

Telekinesis (Level 6) → Telekinesis (Level 7)

—

Status

| Name: Lorenzo Locke

| Class: Wizard (Tier 1)

| Mana Perception: 17 meters

| Spell Range: 9 meters

| Mana Capacity: 360 (180 | 180) units

Skills

| Mana Sense (Level 7)

| Mana Control (Level 9)

| Mana Absorption (Level 8)

| Spell Forms (Level 5)

| Attunement (Level 6)

| Enchanting (Level 1)

Spells

| Lock (Level 7)

| Shield (Level 6)

| Bolt (Level 10)*

| Spear (Level 5)

| Telekinesis (Level 7)

Techniques

| None

Schema

| Barrier

—

Notification

First breakthrough threshold reached.

The Universal Training Guide has identified that your first Spell, Technique, or Skill has reached level 10, which has triggered a requirement.

Thresholds begin at level 10, followed by every 20 levels thereafter. Your ability will not continue progressing until a breakthrough is achieved.

As this is your first time reaching the limit of a Spell, the Universal Training Guide is authorized to provide limited assistance. All other spell breakthroughs will require personal, conceptual development.

Note: You are not required to follow the suggestions provided. The purpose of the guide is not to direct you down any particular development pathway. Magic begins without ending and ends without beginning. One path walked rarely precludes another path explored.

Evaluating…

Spell breakthrough detected. Codified spell: Bolt. 

Note: Spell and Technique breakthroughs differ from Skills, requiring Form or Circulation adaptations. The guide’s magic supports skill breakthroughs directly, though all require that the mage push the conceptual boundaries of their magic.

Analyzing…

Connecting to the Universal Training Guide Library…

Three recommendations generated.

Piercing-

A projectile that dissipates on contact has fulfilled its purpose. A projectile that maintains coherence through its target has transcended its original design. Consider what happens to the spell form at the moment of impact. Currently, the construct collapses in on itself. If the form instead directed energy toward the target, reinforcing its own structure at the point of contact, the projectile would persist beyond the initial collision. For atmospheric use, study the relationship between rotational stability and structural integrity within the form.

Guided-

A spell released is a spell abandoned. The connection between caster and construct is severed at the moment of invocation, leaving the projectile to follow its initial trajectory without correction. This severance is not naturally inherent. It is a limitation of the current design. Consider what would remain if the construct retained a channel back to its origin. A tether need not be heavy to carry intent.

Charged-

The current spell form accepts a fixed quantity of mana and releases immediately upon invocation. This is efficient, but it treats the construct as a vessel with a strictly defined capacity. Consider a form designed to accept sustained input beyond its minimum requirement, accumulating energy without increasing the dimensions of the final construct. Greater density within the same volume produces a proportionally greater effect upon release.

…

Good luck, Magus Locke. We await you beyond the barrier. Do not give up.

…

Connection closed.

—

Reading it for the sixth time was just as confusing as reading it the first time. He hadn’t shared it with the others yet, having decided it could wait until he’d had time to process it himself. And until they reached their parent’s house.

It didn’t stop him from burning brain cells over it. His status showed him as Tier 1, now. The link there was obvious. It required at least one ability at level 10.

Which begged the question. They’d faced two Tier 1 Eaters now, according to the guide’s notifications. One of each type. And the implication there was that they had Skills and Spells and Techniques of their own.

And some of them were leveling up. Fast.

But none of that was the shocking part. The guide had provided insight for the first time into spell forms by tapping into some sort of magic library. It even provided three distinct adaptations and hinted that he need not be limited to choosing just one. 

Because it wasn’t a choice. The guide didn’t give him a button and let him pick an upgrade. Instead, continuing to improve the spell required that he build upon its original form himself.

Not that he was complaining. He reread the ideas again, theories already forming in his mind on how to achieve the breakthrough. 

Then his eyes fell on the second last line. The part that had made him withhold the information in the first place.

It didn’t read like anything else the guide had provided. Not even the initial bureaucratic notice about the end of their world and evidence of extraterrestrial life. Oh, and the magic.

No, that one line wormed itself into his mind. It read all too much like a personalized message.

And he didn’t know how to feel about it. It raised far too many questions. How did they know about his achievement? His name? Why were they telling him not to give up?

And what was a magus? Was it some kind of title earned upon becoming a Tier 1 Wizard?

A set of fingers snapped inches in front of his face.

“Earth to Enzo,” Val said. 

He dismissed the notifications and opened his eyes to find his sister standing in front of him, giving him a look reserved for those rare moments when he drifted off into his own thoughts.

Enzo scratched the back of his neck and smiled. “Sorry, I was reading my status again.”

Val studied him for a few heartbeats, perhaps sensing something was off. Then she shrugged and climbed onto her bike. “All good. Let’s get going.”

Sumi gave him a nod, and the pair pushed off, Murph happily keeping pace beside Val.

Enzo grabbed his bike and followed, his leg only briefly protesting. As he pedalled, he thought about the ring sitting in his pocket. Before they’d set off after the healing session, Val had quietly handed it back to him. The apologetic look on her face had told him everything before she spoke. 

She’d heard it crack during the fight, right after using it to counter one of the Eater’s blasts. Wasn’t sure if she’d pushed too much mana through it, or if the opposing forces between her punch and the blast had been more than the shield enchantment could handle.

He’d turned it over in his fingers. Found the fracture running through the ring, thin as a hair, but seemingly fatal to the enchantment’s integrity. 

He’d told her it wasn’t her fault. And meant it. It was his first real piece of magical craftsmanship, and it had done exactly what it was designed to do. Even if it was only once.

He’d make another one. A better one.

Enzo followed the road as it turned, leaving the highway behind and finally entering Mill Valley proper. Despite looking like every other stretch of road bordered by overflowing growth and grass reaching higher than it should, he let out a small, relieved breath.

They were almost home.