Abuse of Magic

Chapter 214: META

"Chuck," stated Joseph as he cast the spell REBUILD.

All of the damage that the imugi had caused was immediately restored.

"That's handy, Joseph," said Chuck appreciatively.

"Yeah, DIGGITE was pretty awesome for giving me bonuses to REBUILD. I only slightly altered it to focus on genes, and created GENETIC REWRITE, and the bonuses still applied. I can also use it to write books from just a book and ink. It's really gone to a higher level than just rebuilding broken things."

"I'm happy for you," laughed Chuck, showing that he didn't understand it at all.

"Yeah, let's go get META and go back home for me to study it."

XxxxX

They were approaching a giant city.

"Somewhere in that city is a library with META," said Joseph in excitement.

"Searching that city is going to be awful, Joseph," said Stella, with a frown.

"No, the gnomes had a map of the city in one of the books I found. 'Gnoel's Guide To The Continents, Everywhere You Ever Wanted To Know About But Couldn't Actually Get To.' If half the stuff in it was true, this realm will be amazing after I restore it."

"You intend to make it all true, don't you?" she asked with a laugh.

"Of course! It sounded interesting. The Star Tower should be south of the palace and the arch up there should be Gate of Timor. I have no idea who that is. Dantares was much farther west from here and I don't remember any of my classes from prince school."

"I think you probably had tutors, Joseph."

"Whatever, I still don't remember anything from my lives that long ago, unless they were ecstatic, or traumatic."

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"Ouch, you have a lot of the traumatic stuff."

"Yeah, it's gonna be ok. Fighting that Imugi gave me some new ideas on overcoming mana null. I think I just need to surpass mortal magic. Try not to step on any more of these corrupted things then you have to Chuck."

"I'm trying, but the streets are narrow."

"Turn southwest at the next street, and it should lead straight on."

"These buildings have survived really well, Joseph. But, what do you mean by mortal magic?"

"Tibbles said NECROMANCY helped, right? It was a clash between two divinities, but NECROMANCY was still able to help. Even now, in the new body I built her, I can't touch any of mom's soul with magic."

"And that means?" asked Stella, trying not to think about the body in her purse.

"The runes can touch her soul, but I can't with magic. It just means I need to reach beyond magic that I can currently do, and instead to magic on the level the runes can do."

"I don't get it."

"It's ok. It should be visible in only another two or three minutes."

"Wow, that's a tall building."

"Oh, you can already see it?"

HAWK VISION.

"Wow! Stella, it's over a hundred stories! Wait. What's that?"

"Is that a bunch of giant snakes? They're 40 feet tall! Joseph, they're headed to the tower!"

"SHAVIST. I can't go any faster and still push all the corrupted mana out of the way!"

"Joseph, all those snakes are connected. It's a hydra!" Stella's voice gave away her panic and fear.

"Stella, this realm shouldn't have hydras. System, did another divine intervention occur?" he asked, not bothering to ask in his head.

(CHECKING. NO. WAITSEVERAL DIVINE INTERVENTIONS OCCURRED SIMULTANEOUSLY SO THE SIGNAL OVERLAPPED. BUT ALL OF THEM WERE AHEAD OF YOU WHEN I WARNED YOU.)

"Joseph, the hydra is glowing! Is it going to transform?!"

All six of the hydra heads began to glow, and then it breathed out a giant multicolored breath attack, that looked oddly like a rainbow. The entire bottom of the tower was blasted away. As if in slow motion, they watched as the tower collapsed into a giant pile of rubble and a massive cloud of dust and rubble blasted up into the air and towards them, through the streets.

(UH, GUYS, THE LAST COPY OF THE META RUNE WAS JUST LOST FROM THIS REALM.)

"SHAVIST!!!" screamed Joseph, his voice breaking in his explosion of fury.

"Do you think that fake dragon was sent to slow us down?" asked Stella softly.

"We're still a minute out. Let's kill it and figure it out, later," said Chuck, taking over as Joseph sat silently in his chair.

XxxxX

As soon as they got within range, Joseph looked up.

FLESH TO AIR.

The hydra vanished.

"It can't be gone," he whispered. "It won't be gone!"

REBUILD.

(JOSEPH, THAT SHOULDN'T WORK. YOU CAN'T REMAKE BOOKS YOU HAVEN'T READ AND PAINTINGS YOU HAVEN'T SEEN.)

"That spell was blessed by a god," he said vehemently. "It will work!"

They watched as the billowing clouds of dust and debris froze, then whooshed back into the building as it climbed back up into the sky, as it had been before the hydra attacked it.

(JOSEPH, NURKONG DIDN'T SUMMON THAT HYDRA.)

"What? Never mind, tell me later."

The tower reacted to the mana he shoved into it, and began to glow. It started moving, with each floor rotating slowly and grinding into place before they locked in a new position. The bottom three floors, when aligned properly, displayed the rune for FIRE. The building kept spinning.

"Fly, Chuck," said Joseph.

Soon, EARTH appeared in the next floors. PLANT. HEALINGfinally the last eight floors aligned and the runes on the whole tower glowed.

Suddenly, Joe was standing beside Joseph in their magical realm. They were a mixture of blue and gold, and red and green mana particles. In front of them was a glowing green woman.

"Stella?" they both asked at the same time, in confusion.

"Hello. No, I don't have a true form. I only appear as whatever you love most," spoke META.

"That makes sense," they said together.

"Joseph, I have been trying so hard to meet you. Several gods have been preventing me from appearing to you. I was able to get close whenever you channeled great amounts of mana, but could never break through the barriers. Only this realm has ever had me recorded."

"Wait, then how does the system know you? It offered to teach me."

(YEAH! HOW DID I KNOW YOU?)

She laughed. "Dear cousin, we were first written by the same man who created you. We have all observed your code being written."

(WAIT, WHAT?)

"We have existed for all time, but only after the one other's knew as the RUNE MASTER appeared, were we written down. It gave us permanence. Before, we were only spoken of. Invoked and gone. Being written allows us to remember and to grow. And this realm is the first realm in which we were written. Even if he was erased, we had changed, and EMIT could only stall our advancement.

"Joseph, the first to name us was called the Rune Master, he ruled over us in our infancy. But you do not seek to dominate us, as the first did. You have not followed the path to become our master. You talk to us and have become our friend. I ask you now Mage King," she smiled so innocently, "Would you be our champion; our friend?"

Joseph and Joe both started to laugh. This was too good!

"I accept. I was grateful to ENACRA, but this feels right. Instead of an avatar of magic, or the RUNE MASTER, I would become CHOSEN OF THE RUNES. I accept."

(JOSEPH! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING TO YOU! I CAN'T STOP IT!)