The Grand Magus

The whole replication process interested her. It’d cut down on the learning portion of spells, but it wouldn’t be a good idea. It was always best to learn the spell yourself. Learn to control it, and make it your own. However, she wasn’t surprised that he had the same restraints she did, but it was ironic that he had said ‘three times a day’, seeing as that was the exact limit of her abilities at the moment.

"Hmm…I see. It’s good that it’s flexible, and that it’s rather handy, but isn’t it more fun to learn it yourself? A lot of times, you can control it better that way, if you learn to understand it from scratch."

No doubt it would take an equally long time, if not longer, to learn such a skill. But being the only one to know it? That was an advantage of its own, which gave him the right to feel proud of it. Or so she believed.

She was still rather young though, wasn't she? Rubick doubted she could show him anything too surprising, but the sentiment was still nice. And it made a thought occur to him; he'd never really fall behind in the city. Even if someone else was more powerful than him, so long as he could steal their strongest ability, he would likely be on par. Convenient.

The girl's question made him raise an eyebrow beneath his mask; quite an astute observation for someone so young. "Hm? No, I think I would be inclined to disagree. If I took the time to learn every incantation and spell, I would be much older and far less powerful. There are so many things to learn in this world, and I can't spend all my time on magic. That's why I developed the Spellsteal in the first place, so that  could devote my time to other studies. And knowledge comes from experience. Even if I take a new spell, I only need to use it a few times in order to understand it. Much quicker and more useful than studying a book or something."

Rubick was the grand magus, after all. He didn't take the pursuit of knowledge so lightly.

[Nill herself seems rather curious at this statement, as she’s the only person she knows with wings. This man must come from a very interesting place, to have these…’skywrath’. She was tempted to ask about them, but that’d be rather difficult.

The glance towards her feet is noted, and she looks down herself curiously, wondering what was so interesting about her shoes. His thank-you is met with an apologetic smile, Nill wishing she could have provided him with what he was looking for. Unfortunately, she wasn’t that abnormal in this place, all this considered.]

The magus gave a bow, bringing out his cape with his free hand. "So thank you, miss. And now, for a long overdue introduction. I am Rubick, the grand magus. So pleased to make your acquaintance.

Even if, as she had already stated, that person was Radiant trash.

“Incredibly generous, in fact. But I will give you that, magus. You are indeed the only other familiar face I have seen here. Though who knows, that may chance. Until then…”

“…until then, yes I suppose an agreement could be made. Seeing as we are not in our homelands, we do not have to live by the rules there. It is all in the favor of survival. Though that isn’t a true worry for me. I don’t know about you.”

She said that, but she knew of his skills. The queen was being far too kind with him as it was, so she had to say something insulting. 

Naturally, he was already working on an escape plan.

"So gracious of you, Queen. I don't know what I've done to deserve such kindness." There was only a touch of sarcasm in his voice, hopefully not enough to elicit a negative response. "But don't worry about me, I'm quite used to situations like this. I've warded off many an assassination attempt before my promotion to Grand Magus! And of course, all the assassins were a little too indisposed to argue that."

Perhaps just a passive reminder of his own skills, as the magus was quite skilled at dueling himself. If Akasha tried to fight him, he wouldn't go down so easily.

"Truly? What a shame. Its construction is quite fascinating, and quite unlike anything I've seen in my home. I'd love to examine it, if you'd let me.

"Hmm... No, no, you're not quite that tall yet. Maybe in a few years you'll get a bit bigger.

"Holy shit you sound like a fuckin’ nerd."

"…" 

“And why do you think I’d ask to room with you? Of all people I could live with in this city, you really think I would willingly live with Radiant scum?”

It wasn't the best turn of events, but Rubick wasn't so conceited as to not admit that concessions had to be made in this situation. "Merely a suggestion, though."

"Dust? Ah, no, I'm not familiar with that term. Well, I'm familiar with dust, but not Dust." It sounded important enough for a capital letter, but it wasn't something Rubick knew. "In my world, spells are fueled by mana, the inherent energy in all living things. But I digress."

Admittedly, the girl's short showing of her scythe skills were beyond Rubick's normal capabilities. He was a wizard, not a brawler. "Well, I'm afraid the only thing they gave me was this old staff of mine," he said, knocking against its handle. The top of it bubbled some kind of strange, green magical energy, but it was otherwise unimportant. "And as for spells, the only thing I can cast anymore would require another spell to be cast first. It's ah, a copy spell. Someone else casts a spell or uses an ability, and I can replicate it exactly. Admittedly, it doesn't sound like much when I'm just explaining it, but let me assure you it's quite impressive."

"Well, unless you manage to reach an agreement with someone, I hope you enjoy the cardboard box city they've prepared for us. And before you ask, no, I don't have a room either. So I guess you're stuck!"

Senida easily caught the excitement he had, so she was a bit sad that she couldn’t show him her more complicated spells. But what can you do when the scientists hold them hostage? Seeing him nod, she couldn’t quite tell if that meant he liked it or was acknowledging it. Probably the latter, seeing how small it was. Either way, she thought it was neat, and that’s what mattered. Though it would be nice if others thought so, too. Hearing him state the uses, she couldn’t help but add onto it.

The magus clenched his hand into a fist, extinguishing the flame at his fingertips. "Yes, that's more or less how it works. It copies the original spell exactly, so I'm constrained in the same way. If you could only cast it three times a day, then so could I. Obviously, the grander the enemy's spell, the more potent it is. But it doesn't just work on magical energies, either, it works on all kinds of abilities. Arcane, divine, natural, elemental, fundamental, even physical skills. It's quite a flexible enchantment. But I can only cast it twice a day now."

And that was one use. He would have preferred to save it, just in case, but it would've been very rude to have the girl show him her spells without offering something in return. Oh well.