Chapter 11: Grim Tidings (1/2)
The Archmage was startled out of his trance by a sudden surge of energy. His senses had been fully expanded, allowing him to track the flow and ebb of mana across the planet. While he was searching for a certain unique fluctuation, an explosion of power took place on the central continent. The magnitude of this explosion seemed so great that he would not be surprised if the continent had ceased to exist. Such an event required immediate investigation.
He swiftly exited his meditation chamber and headed up to his observatory. As the Archmage of Cadun, City of Spells, he had access to the best equipment available in this world.
As he passed through the large double doors of the observatory, a small winged creature humanoid greeted him. It resembled a frail young boy the size of a housecat, with a pair of bat-like wings.
”Good morning Master, can this one assist you in any way?” The creature bowed in a servile manner.
The Archmage glanced down at the homunculus, one of his earlier creations that he had kept around primarily for sentimental reasons. It took him a few moments, but he was able to recall his creation's name ”Not for now, Yan. I have something I need to investigate in the observatory.”
He paused for a second, considering a number of possibilities. ”On second thought, there is something you can do for me. Go find Ophalia and Minzu, tell them to get the Probability Lens activated. I will join them shortly.”
The homunculus bowed deeply. ”As you wish, Master.” Before flying through a small opening in the wall that led to a series of tunnels which honeycombed the tower.
The Archmage continued into the observatory, and sat behind the control console. He activated the crystals which fed mana into a complex lattice of silvery metal which was suspended in mid-air. As the lattice began to spin and hum with energy, he placed a hand on the control sphere and mentally directed the machine.
Recalling the sensations he had experiences during his trance, he was able to narrow down the location of the disturbance to a remote region of the Almiran frontier. As far as he was aware, there was nothing of interest in that area.
The place in question was near the edge of The Forest of Shadows, which dominated much of the northeastern portion of the continent. After a few seconds of scanning, he was unable to locate anything unusual.
He activated one of the observatory's life-sensing filters. This one was primarily geared towards locating complex lifeforms. He immediately noticed a large predatory animal which seemed to be chasing a humanoid creature through the woods. As he watch the humanoid joined another group of humanoids. The predator and the humanoids clashed, resulting in the predator being driven away. Curious, he was just about to focus the image on the group when an urgent telepathic message stole his attention.
[Master! You need to come quick!] The panicked mental voice of his apprentice Ophalia sounded in his head. [There is something strange going on with the Probability Lens]
[I'll be there soon.] He responded.
One portion of his mind immediately started the calculations necessary for teleportation to the lab containing the lens. Ordinarily it would require no effort at all, but the layers of protection he had added around the tower meant that he had to expend a bit of energy to do so.
Another part of his mind considered what he had seen with the Observatory. [There was nothing present that warranted the usage of such an amazing amount of power. There were a few humans in the area, but only one of them was higher than Tier One. It seems unlikely that the amount of mana consumed by that action would have anything to do with the humans. Probably, this surge was meant to affect some change instantaneously to the world at large, and the location itself didn't matter.]
While still lost in thought, his mind completed the teleportation, bringing him to the laboratory. There he saw a panicked looking Ophalia wrestling with the controls for the Probability Lens. The young elf was trying her best to shut the machine down with no apparent success. The air hummed with a veritable sea of energy as the lens itself vibrated with an increasingly high-pitched whine.
Minzu, a black-haired rat beastman, ran up. ”Master! We don't know what's going on. As soon as we started the Lens, it began to run out of control. We can't get it to shut off!”
The Archmage looked up at his prized creation. The Probability Lens was in truth a massive spherical crystal he had painstakingly grown over several years. At each stage of development he had shaped and engraved the crystal, ensuring the optimal level of quality and mana capacity.
Fundamentally, the Probability Lens functioned as a massive mana battery, 4m in diameter, which focused and channeled ambient mana into the control circle. The circle was an incredibly intricate 10m wide diagram carved into the stone floor of the tower before being filled with magically charged mithril. When activated and supplied with sufficient power, enough to level a small city if used for destructive purposes, the Archmage was able to calculate possible futures.