Aozaki Aoko [544-546] (Patreon)

Chapter 544: Intellect devourer

Seconds after Aoko's simulacrum of Dzaan steadied itself atop the crystal disc, Simon maintained his focus on the gravity inversion spell. Aoko, eager to complete the transformation ritual as quickly as possible, immediately began chanting incantations. Powerful magic surged throughout the room, filling the runic array.

Her own simulacrum had long since been placed into the Imaginary Number Space and would not be affected by the array—becoming an independent entity of its own.

There shouldn't be anything else in this room that could be affected by the runic array—at least, in theory.

The simulacrum of Dezann on the crystal disc looked at his own body in astonishment. Mighty magic caused his simulacrum form to glow with golden light, and slowly, the illusory snow and shadows turned into real flesh and blood.

This process was painless, as seen in the simulacrum's astonished and curious expression. Everything about the ritual appeared to proceed smoothly and without incident. But there was an anomaly, one Aoko had prepared for, though the odds of it occurring were not one hundred percent.

The illusion school's powerful effects extracted shadow magic from the Shadowfell, then the transmutation school's spells converted it into tangible substance, substituting and filling in for Dzaan's body. But during this process, a creature hiding in the rift between the Shadowfell and the Material Plane was forced out.

It was a gigantic mind eater, as large as a tank. Massive, sturdy limbs supported its grotesque, brain-like body. Its whole form stretched out with tentacles covered in tiny poisonous barbs, seemingly ready to tear apart the room's most intelligent prey at any moment.

There was no doubt—the one exuding the sweetest psychic energy and the highest intelligence was none other than Aoko herself.

Intellect devourer locked its attention on Aoko. Even though it had no eyes, nor even a mouth on its surface, Aoko could keenly sense its greed and hunger.

It kept making sucking noises, trembling as it tried to draw out Aoko's psychic power—her intellect—but gained nothing.

Aoko's layers upon layers of protection magic, along with the mind-shield ring she'd gotten from Omeluum, easily blocked this. This only enraged the Intellect devourer further.

"Protect Simon! Don't let him lose focus—the ritual isn't over yet!" Aoko said calmly to the others, gripping her staff. "I'll deal with this beast!"

Doric immediately transformed into an owlbear to block the way in front of Simon. But her own high intelligence (16 points) made facing the Intellect devourer extremely uncomfortable.

Edgin began playing bardic inspiration, granting the party his magical battle boons. Holga, the least affected in the room, stood between the Intellect devourer and the others, axe at the ready.

If this were just a normal mind eater, Holga alone could have handled it easily. But this one could phase back and forth between the Material Plane and the planar rift—just like how it was forced out by the ritual.

With a sudden leap, its massive body vanished from the Material Plane and, in a blink—like a short-range teleport—reappeared beside Aoko, dozens of tentacles stabbing toward her.

But such an ambush was useless against a mage with contingency spells. The tentacles were stopped cold by a spherical force field before they could touch her.

Resilient Sphere—a classic for prisoning and personal defense—did its job, though being knocked around inside could get annoying.

So, in the seconds her sphere was sent rolling, Aoko used a misty step to shift to a safer spot—right behind Holga.

She slapped Holga on the back as she passed; Haste was instantly cast on the barbarian. Holga leapt forward, his battle cry drawing the Intellect devourer's attention.

It tried to pierce Holga with its sharp tentacles, but his adamantine breastplate easily shrugged off the attack. Then her axe came down, biting deep into the monster's flesh—milky white ichor splattering everywhere.

"Screeeee!!!!"

The Intellect devourer let out an indescribable shriek, its agony clear to all. It was a psychic shockwave, much like a mind blast from an illithid.

All of its tentacles flailed madly. Holga dodged and weaved, retreating, but not without a few scrapes on her arms.

This mutant Intellect devourer was indeed formidable, but to a party led by a near-legendary mage, it was just another challenge—not a real threat.

Aoko gripped her staff, Midnight, both hands steady. The metal rings at its tip clinked together.

"Transmutation Blessing, Arcane Storage, Maximized, Empowered—Disintegrate."

A massive green beam shot forth, tearing through the air with a thunderous, gun-like roar.

The spell only touched the Intellect devourer for an instant; its hulking body began to disintegrate into drifting ash.

The monster that just moments before had swaggered in, ready to feast on Aoko's brain, ended its wicked life.

Judging by its size, its evolution was probably fueled by the brains of most of the mage apprentices in this tower—the poor soul they found in the stairwell was just its first victim.

It was even possible the tower's master was eaten during the collapse—after all, the entire Weave failed at that moment, and a powerless mage would be easy prey.

By destroying the Intellect devourer, Aoko, in a sense, avenged those unlucky Netherese mage. The loot she found in this tower could be considered her reward.

"So… this is what it really feels like to be alive?" The simulacrum Dzaan knelt on the golden disc, trembling as he felt his real body. "I feel—cold!"

Aoko lightly tapped her staff on the floor. With a rush of sound, Mass Feather Fall was cast on everyone, and Simon ended his gravity inversion.

Everyone touched down safely.

"So, what should we call you now?" Aoko asked the newly-revived Simulacrum Dzaan." "You're alive in this world for the first time. Maybe today's your birthday?"

"Just call me Dzaan, I'm used to it," Dzaan said as he stood and pulled his parka tighter. "I'm not the original Dzaan—at best, I'm his clone. But since the original is dead, I'll inherit his name."

"What will you do now?" Aoko asked. "Head straight to Ythryn?"

"I'd like to say yes, since a thirst for magical knowledge has always been my purpose—even if I inherited that from the original Dzaan," he replied. "But right now, I don't even have a spellbook and few spells left, so I'll go to Bryn Shander first and get a blank spellbook."

Chapter 545: Depart! Heading to Ythryn!

Dzaan left the Netherese spire without hesitation—there was no reason for him to stay. His top priority was to get a spellbook, so he could transcribe what spells he still remembered and regain his casting ability after a long rest.

That said, he hadn't inherited much magical memory from the original Dzaan—since the original was fairly mediocre, didn't even have the Spell Mastery feat, and had to memorize spells the hard way every day. As a result, New Dzaan was also not as skilled.

He didn't mind, though. During his time in the tower as a simulacrum, he'd copied quite a few illusion spells to carry with him. Now that he was truly human, he could develop differently than the original.

If he managed to find some powerful legacy in Ythryn… Archmage Dzaan wasn't out of the question, New Dzaan thought confidently.

But since the sled was taken by the original, Dzaan had to cross the tundra using the only floating disk spell he had.

Even with an undead minion, the journey was tough—he nearly froze to death on the way.

Perhaps due to some deviation in the ritual, Dzaan's alignment shifted from Lawful Evil to Chaotic Neutral—a significant change.

For Aoko, Dzaan's departure was just right. She'd wanted him out of the way before heading to Mystra and reporting about Ythryn.

She didn't want to completely block New Dzaan from reaching Ythryn—otherwise, she could've just killed him. After all, the contract didn't forbid harming him.

But from his time as a simulacrum to after his revival, Dzaan had always cooperated with Aoko's requests. She also noticed his alignment shift, so she decided to let him go.

As reciprocation, before leaving, Dzaan warned Aoko that besides him, three others were also after Ythryn's secrets. The original Dzaan's downfall wasn't just losing his spellbook—he was also betrayed by those three.

These three were members of the Arcane Brotherhood, whom Aoko had heard about in Luskan:

Avarice, an evoker with two gargoyle minions, a paranoid tiefling.

Nass Lantomir, a diviner obsessed with reading others' memories.

Vaelish Gant, a necromancer of the Harpell family from Longsaddle, likely a relative of Dowell Harpell. Having turned herself into a half-undead, the family wouldn't care if she died.

Aoko had no idea where these three went. She'd heard no news of them in the Easthaven.

Maybe they'd already set out, wandering the tundra in search of Ythryn's entrance?

So, Aoko wasn't in a hurry. She and her companions stayed in the spire, well supplied and with plenty of time for Aoko to study the runic room. She carefully recorded all the runes and even took the golden crystal disc with her.

After nearly five days, Aoko finished documenting the runic array and began to understand its principles, though the disc's manufacture remained a mystery. No problem—she'd study it back home.

Everyone packed up. Holding hands, they were instantly teleported by Aoko's spell to the snowy plain outside the tower.

But as soon as they stepped out, Aoko realized they were ambushed.

For a moment, she suspected Dzaan had betrayed them, but upon seeing the ambushers, she dismissed the idea.

They were just a group of bear goblins out looking for food. Dzaan wouldn't have the money to hire them, nor would he be foolish enough to think green skins could take out a high-level archmage.

Aoko waved her staff; a crackling bolt of blue lightning shot out, striking the first bear goblin, then splitting into three extra bolts, forming a web of electricity that felled them all.

"How did these guys even get here?" Edgin wondered as he checked the charred goblins. "There's no tribe or den for them nearby."

"I have a guess," Aoko mused. "Remember how we were attacked by frost giants and Auril cultists? Maybe these goblins were also influenced by Auril's divine magic."

"Could Auril's avatar be hiding in Ythryn?" Simon was incredulous—he couldn't grasp why a god would do that.

"Hard to say," Aoko replied. "Gods act in ways mortals can't understand, shaped by their beliefs and divinity."

"Either way, we should stay alert," Edgin sighed. "It could be good for us: if Ythryn contains the secret of the Everlasting Rime, we could solve both your mission and that mystery."

Aoko agreed. If Mystra could guide her to Ythryn, then it was likely not just the Mythallar was present.

The goddess of magic had told Aoko that some foes in the floating city might be somewhat challenging, even for her.

In other words, legendary difficulty at minimum—and possibly even facing Auril, that goddess gone mad.

Chapter 556: Ythryn City!

Since leaving the Netherese spire, Aoko's group had been trekking across the tundra for nearly half a month.

Though she had Mystra's mental impression of Ythryn's location, Aoko underestimated the size of the Reghed Glacier.

Luckily, her caster level was high enough for spells like Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion, making travel and rest easy, so the party could always operate in top condition, never exhausted or out of supplies.

Maybe Mystra was giving her a boost—Aoko's magical research and cleric levels had advanced rapidly, and she'd just gained several divine spells, reaching cleric level 4, with Lesser Restoration and Cure Moderate Wounds.

Her archmage level wasn't quite 19 yet, but significant progress was made. Through study and fighting monsters, Aoko gained much spiritual insight.

In arcane magic, she'd learned 7th-level Lightning Storm, Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion, and Forcecage. While she hadn't gotten 8th or 9th-level spells, these three were very useful and she was satisfied.

As a graduate student, Aoko had always wanted to leave Earth's surface and explore space. But with the current state of magecraft, spaceflight tech was lacking, so she set the plan aside.

Still, she could force her way off the planet with magecraft acceleration and Fifth Magic's galactic search anchoring, enabling solo space travel.

But that wasn't her ideal—she wanted a vehicle, like a spaceship, for her and her friends to freely travel the solar system. That meant she needed mass-scale planar resistance magic.

Now, Forcecage fit her requirements perfectly. She could inscribe it as a ritual on a vehicle and power it via Weave.

Her first destination would be the Nasuverse moon; so many secrets awaited there. To avoid trouble, she might need Arcueid as a guide.

That moon probably didn't have the supercomputer Moon Cell, but possibly another force—the Mooncancer.

The only info Aoko had on this mysterious Mooncancer was that it blocks intruders from outside the Earth-Moon system and imprisons humans who try to leave. Beyond that, she knew nothing.

Thinking about this, Aoko decided that after solving the Ythryn and Auril problems, she'd leave Faerûn and return to the Nasuverse's Earth for a break.

She also had new ideas for future planar exploration. She'd detected some magicless but still mysterious crystal sphere worlds.

If her guess was right, these worlds were seemingly sci-fi, but actually magical—which fascinated Aoko.

She was digressing—maybe because she'd been away from her Nasuverse home for too long and missed Alice and the others.

Back in her mansion's magic workshop, Aoko refocused on information about Ythryn.

By carefully reading and studying the Vinstatot volume, she found side notes on Ythryn that gave her a new understanding of its fate.

Ythryn didn't crash and fall during Karsus's Folly. It fell into the Reghed Glacier for another reason.

Vinstatot, a floating city closely tied to Ythryn, had many records mentioning it. And the Vinstatot book itself was actually from the Tower of Illusionists in Selûne, brought out by Dzaan's teacher.

According to the book, Ythryn, in -343 DR, dredged up from the Sea of Floating Ice a massive stone shaft inscribed with strange symbols—likely from the ancient Ostoria giant kingdom, dating back some forty thousand years.

Sure enough, in experiments, the stone shaft emitted a mysterious flash of light, causing Ythryn's mythallar to shut down.

The result of a floating city's reactor failing is obvious: Ythryn crashed into the glacier.

And due to special magical effects, the city sank into the glacier, remaining mostly intact but buried.

What happened afterward—whether anyone escaped—is unknown. Vinstatot ends its record there.

Aoko's party was now camping near the glacier, quite close to Ythryn's entrance. But the terrain was too rugged for dog sleds; they had to walk or use fly spells.

But group flight was slower than individual flight, so to save spell slots and because magic became more suppressed near Ythryn, Aoko chose to walk.

Was it because of that stone shaft in Ythryn?

To be safe, everyone walked. If something went wrong and they crashed midair, it would be embarrassing.

…

Three more days passed; the party finally found a huge cave hidden beneath the ice.

This was the tunnel entrance Mystra had shown Aoko in her mind—the way to the ruins of the mysterious Netherese floating city, Ythryn, waiting to be explored.