I took a deep breath and followed Sophia into the grand lobby of the mansion, my hand resting loosely on the hilt of my wand. We’d come this far, and I was determined to see this mission through to the end. As we entered the lobby, I was struck by the beauty of the room. The high ceiling was adorned with intricate mouldings, and the walls were covered in lush, golden wallpaper. But that beauty was marred by the sight of several people slumped against the walls, their eyes closed in a deep sleep. Sophia and I exchanged a knowing look. When they had been disconnected from the rogue Immateria the people must have instantly fallen asleep. Perhaps it was their brain's natural defence against such a psychic onslaught. Whatever the reasoning behind the sudden unconsciousness of the humans in the mansion was beside the point. The fact they’d been knocked out meant they’d be less of a hassle when the fighting began. The last thing we wanted was a bunch of people running around like headl
The black vortex of magical energy consumed everything in its path, and for a moment I thought I was going to be simply wiped from existence with the rest of the furniture. But when the field passed over me all I felt was a little bit of a tingling sensation. Clearly, the effect wasn’t as potent on living creatures as it was on inanimate objects. I wasn’t sure how my clothes survived the transition, but I wasn’t about to start complaining either. “I told you I was a god!” The rogue gloated, he was floating a few feet off the ground now, his eyes glowing a dark ominous red. “Well, this is the stage of my godhood! In this space anything I will becomes reality, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!”I rolled my eyes and pulled out my wand, readying a spell. This rogue was like some kind of b-movie villain, and I was ready for his boasting to stop. Sophia was already standing in front of me, her fists crackling with arcane energy. She shot the rogue a hard look. “You’re not a god
The aftermath of our battle with the rogue was nothing short of catastrophic. The once grand and luxurious halls of the mansion had been left in ruins, as if struck by a tempest of dark magic. Splintered pieces of furniture littered the ground, and the walls were scorched black with the residue of powerful spells. It was as if a dragon had descended from the sky and unleashed its fury upon the building. The very air was thick with the scent of smoke and char, and the creaking crackles of destruction echoed hauntingly through the halls. It was a grisly reminder of the power of the Rogue Immateria, who had wreaked havoc upon what would have once been a beautiful and peaceful place. Everywhere I looked, evidence of his malevolent influence was apparent - shattered vases, broken mirrors and torn tapestries. The most poignant sight was the way the floor had been singed with the outline of a great symbol. The lines were scorched into the woodwork as if they had been seared into the ve
As Sophia and I made our way through the building of the Immateria council the weight of our failure hung heavy on my shoulders. The Rogue had slipped through our grasp, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that our mistakes had put much more than just ourselves in danger. As usual, the council chambers were dimly lit, casting long shadows across the ornate furnishings and polished floors. The members of the council were all gathered around their table, their expressions grim as we entered. “Well, well, well,” one of them drawled, “News of your return to the city has already spread to us, and we are well aware that you were unable to defeat the rogue.” I gritted my teeth, but Sophia stepped forward with the same calm confidence that she always seemed to embody while dealing with the council. “The rogue was more powerful than we anticipated,” Sophia explained, “And not just that, he mentioned… a patron, an unknown source that was giving him assistance.” The mood in the room changed a
I sat at my desk, surrounded by a chaotic jumble of books and notes that were scattered across the table. My quill scratched across the parchment as I tried to wrap my head around the intricacies of magic. Without Sophia to distract me, I was finally getting a chance to do the one thing that I had been longing to do since I was first introduced to the world of the Immateria.Science, with a little bit of magic thrown in for good measure. Actually, it was more like science with a lot of magic thrown in. Back when I was just a mere human, I had created technologies that people had only dreamed about. My masterpiece was a marvel of engineering - an incredibly marketable piece of hologram technology.I had designed it for use in communication and entertainment, but my dreams went beyond that. I had always wanted to create something like the holodeck from Star Wars, or the holographic communicators from… well… everything. But alas, that specific piece of technology was now owned by my old
It had taken me the better part of a day, blood, sweat, and more than a few electrical burns but the prototype version of the clean water device had finally been completed. Much like my initial designs had scoped out the device was small and cylindrical with a tap at the top. I’d chosen to go with a classic vintage crosshead design, twist one way to turn the device on and twist the other way to close it again. I held the device out over a bowl and twisted the tap handle. It sputtered for a moment, vibrating in my hand, and then a steady stream of water began to pour from the tap. “Fantastic!” I muttered to myself, “I knew that the prospect of Magitech was something worth going after. This’ll put me onto the map again without a problem.” I twisted the tap the other way and the water trickled to a stop. While I knew it worked in a standard laboratory environment I still had no idea whether the device would work in other environments. Considering the device pulled what it needed fro
As I meandered through the maze of winding streets and alleys that made up the Immateria City marketplace, I knew that finding the materials that I needed to create the microclimates would be no easy feat. Not only did I not have any real knowledge of what might allow me to do such a thing, but the stalls were also filled with a dizzying array of strange and exotic goods, the air thick with the scent of spices and perfumes. My eyes widened as I caught sight of a small shop that sold all manners of sand and soils. Whether or not magical sand would help me generate the hot environment of a desert I didn’t know, it would allow me to create the base of my environment though and that was just as important. The shop was a small, cramped space filled with bags, barrels and jars of all different shapes and sizes. Each one filled to the brim with various types of sands and soils, no doubt from all across the world. It was difficult to see much beyond the first row of goods due to the dim l
Leaving the sand and soil shop behind I strolled through the lively and bustling magical marketplace. Overhead the simulated sky that was cast over the ceiling of the cavern that the Immateria City was placed in had fallen to dusk, with the fake sun setting somewhere off in the distance. This left a warm, golden light over the crowd of people that were still haggling, browsing and chattering in the marketplace. Lanterns, which had been enchanted with a variety of different charms, flickered into life across the marketplace adding their own soft glow to the mix. When Sophia first told me about the underground city I had never imagined it looking so beautiful. My eyes darted around, taking in the endless rows of shops, filled with all kinds of curiosities and trinkets. Suddenly I caught sight of a vendor selling bags. Just what I was after. With my arms now laden with glass boxes and a bag of magical sand I couldn’t just keep adding to the pile. Eventually it’d become too much to ca