‘That link was too easy to establish’ thought Grand Magus Archibald. ‘It’s unlikely that I’ve calculated the distance incorrectly, I must be a quirk of the shard.’

‘I can assume it’s not natural since no other sub-plane has had a feature like this, but why? Why make yourself easier to reach? There must be a prideful mage within this sub-plane, confident enough to beat of any attacker’

Suddenly there was an imperfection in the stabilization of the surrounding mana. One of the apprentices must be panicking. ‘Of course it’s James, he always was one to panic, such a shame for one so bright. He must have seen how little magic was used since he’s the conductor of the other apprentices and reached the same conclusion as me about the mage in the sub-plane’

“Oh shit, oh we’re sooo screwed, motherfucker, god damn it”

‘That mage is probably listening in, it won’t do to show weakness now, a calm spell is all I need’

“Quiet James. Now’s not the time to panic, we have guests”

James following action surprised the Grand Magus, he expected James to settle down, screaming and running was quite the opposite.

“OH HELL NAH, FUCK THIS SHIT I AINT DOIN IT!” James screamed as he ran.

‘Shit, the mage must have cast a counter-spell and reversed the effect of the calm spell’ Archibald reasoned. ‘to do that to a spell cast be me, even a quick one, they must be a grand magus’

Archibald was somewhat relieved however ‘It could have been much worse, this is more on the level of a particularly cruel prank rather than a malicious attack. I’ll leave the maintenance of the link to them while I intensify the calm spell, it’s their fault after all, they can’t complain’

James, now that he was calm, muttered apologies quietly. Archibald didn’t think it was important enough to use an amplification spell, so he was content with the though of it.

As James settled down and got back to his role of managing the other apprentices, as well as maintaining the mana stabilization, Archibald only left a small amount of his attention on him as he waited for the opposing mage to contact him.

It was normal to cast a sonic projection spell through the link rather than project your mind, since projecting your mind can bring unknown danger and threat to both parties. When this sonic spell didn’t come Archibald started to get confused. ‘Do they not want to communicate, are they stalling for something? There’s not enough information about their character other than that they’re a trickster and a magus of equal strength, but I’m in the heart of a kingdom that supports me, they don’t stand a chance if they want combat.’

‘hmm… it’s likely the master of the sub-plane, so there’s no additional preparation it can do, we have the advantage if we wait since the royal treasurer can help by rallying the forces of the adventurer guild’

‘thinking of that, we’ve already sent the primary information, they should be done so…’

A lower dimension has ascended.

All entities in the 1st cycle of the 3rd dimension have ascended

A link has been made with the Remnant of Reality, named the Heart by its guardian.

The Heart is guarded by a [Unknown construction] called the Bulwark.

The Bulwark is controlled by a [Unknown intelligence] called the Custodian.

Beware, the link goes both ways.

“That’s … worrying”

“Quite”

James realised that this entity was in his mind now, none of the others could sense it, and the grand magus was only reacting after he panicked, but before he could start visibly hyperventilating, the entity continued.

“Calm down no, I’m no ineffable horror, I’m ..,”

A lower dimension has ascended.

All entities in the 1st cycle of the 3rd dimension have ascended

A link has been made with the Remnant of Reality, named the Heart by its guardian.

The Heart is guarded by a [Unknown construction] called the Bulwark.

The Bulwark is controlled by a [Unknown intelligence] called the Custodian.

Beware, the link goes both ways.

“Well, that, I’m the Custodian, and yes, I can read your mind”

‘wh-why are you talking to me? What are you, a fucking unknown, nothing ever been unknown to the system before, and it never gives warning, what the hel-‘

“Whoa there, slow down. I’m new to the system, I’m not even from this dimension so I can’t really answer your questions. I’m here to trade for that. Now, I can see that your not the leader, but I can’t speak to them while they hide their mind, so you’ll have to be my speaker temporarily”

“haaaa” sighed James, “all right then. Grand magus Archibald, it appears the Custodian wishes to speak with us, it’s in my mind now.”

“WHAT!? How?!” Shouted the grand magus in shock. “No sane mage would send their mind through a dimensional link!”

“No, I’d assumed it was a mage, but that system message suggests otherwise”, mused Archibald aloud “Are you the Custodian?”

“You can tell him that I am. You can also say that my mind is divided, even destroying this section means nothing to me. Also, it would be appropriate to move to a better location for diplomacy, would it not?” replied the Custodian in James mind.

“It says that it is the Custodian, and that this is a fragment of it’s mind such that it’s loss wouldn’t be devastating. It probably isn’t a human after all, but it does suggest we move to a more amenable venue.” Answered James to the room.

“Yes, I believe that the king would want to be here for any discussions” Archibald replied, cutting the discourse to an end.

“Well well well, a king huh, so your still doing Feudalism. Interesting, let’s see how magic effects the development of a culture”

‘So wait, are you just … a person? Aren’t you some massive mega-structure?’

“Why yes, I am a person. That doesn’t mean I’m not also a mega-structure however, I’m both. And as a mega-structure, I have plenty to trade and endless treasures”

‘Why would you tell me that though, it makes no sense’

“Quite simple. I’m lacking information. Since I don’t have enough to bluff, the best option for me is sincerity. I’m nigh impossible to beat after all and don’t have to fear looking vulnerable”

That reply simultaneously frightened the fuck out of and comforted James. The fact that this entity was powerful enough to not even care about total war was unsettling, but it’s sincerity was somewhat comforting, despite the fact that was probably intentional.

King Maximilian was sat on his throne. He saw the message, just like everyone else, and knew that the next messenger would either come with news an update, or news of total war. Until that messenger came he would have no but to sit on his throne, wallowing in impotence and longing for the days he could be an impetuous prince.

In the silence he heard footsteps approaching the door and sat straighter in his throne. On one hand, he loved war, the struggle and battle on the edge of life and death. On the other, the civilian populace wasn’t prepared, and many would die. With the death of the peasanty the rest of the kingdom would quickly die, a concept his father didn’t quite understand. Sometimes he still regreted the coup, but in times like this, he knew it was the right choice.

Now was not the time for etiquette, now was the time for action.

“Come in” His voice boomed, heard from outside the door.

The footsteps quickly hurried in, dispensing of all procedure, likely knowing of his temperament. Rushing in he saw lady Jessica and his Treasurer, Albert. It made sense, they were in the city after all, they would get to the palace quickest, however, they’d also have the least interesting news.

“Lady Jessica, Treasurer Albert, do you have anything to report.

“We’d agreed and signed a deal, but in light of the information from the system, it would be unwise to follow through. It seems to be in the best interest of all parties to wait until the Grand Magus arrives so that a more informed decision can be made” announced and recommended Treasurer Albert, well within his right to advise the king as his position as Master of Coin.

“Agreed” Stated the king as the room settled down into silence as the Guild Mistress and Royal Treasurer took their official seats.

A couple minutes later, two more sets of footsteps came to the door. King Maximilian knew that one of them must be Archibald, but who would come with him. It couldn’t be Ragnar, since he was away rallying the armies. Maximilian didn’t have to wait long, as an unknown mage entered along with Archibald, an apprentice judging by his aura.

“Do you have news Archibald?” Maximilian didn’t mention the apprentice, he trusted Archibald’s tact, he wouldn’t bring someone who had no right to know what they were talking about.

“Yes, your majesty, we have a great deal of information. Firstly, the Bulwark mentioned in the system message isn’t a golem or creature, it’s a land. Secondly, it’s larger than we expected, namely, it’s larger than the entire kingdom.” That particular piece of information wasn’t encouraging. They wouldn’t be able to assault the sub-plane then; they’d have to reinforce the Waypoint station.

“Thirdly, it’s willing to negotiate, and the structure of its mind allows for redundancy, according to it. A by-product of this is likely above average intellect. And finally, this is apprentice James, it’s in his head and is here for negotiation.”

“Then summon the scribes, court will be held shortly”