Purattu hopped off the rooftop and to the street below. Xerxes followed, trying to break down the meaning of Purattu’s words. He had simply touched the Abhorrent, and now claimed it would be dead in minutes?

What spell had he cast? If only Gandash were here to ask; he was was a breathing encyclopedia. That would certainly save some time. Instead, Xerxes went through all the spells that a High Mystic could conceivably use.

There were six orders of magic: Nasaru, Asgagu, Balatu, Sinitu, Hasasu, Buhhu.

A Seer could cast one spell from a given order. But once they reached the High Seer level, things changed significantly. They had two additional spells they could theoretically master. A Mystic had three beyond that, and a High Mystic four. In other words, a Mystic had access to a total of six spells they could learn and potentially cast, and a High Mystic had ten. Simple math indicated that, including all the orders of magic, there were sixty spells Purattu could have cast, assuming he was a High Mystic.

It wasn’t too difficult to narrow down the possibilities in terms of which order of magic he specialized in. Nasaru was the magic of defense and shielding, and obviously Purattu hadn’t used any spell like that. Asgagu was for combat, and Xerxes knew lots about that order. Whatever spell had been used wasn’t from the Asgagu order.

It wasn’t a conjuring, so Buhhu was out.

Hasasu? The magic of mind-reading and divination? No, that didn’t make sense. Hasasu couldn’t really be used in combat. Sinitu? No, there hadn’t been any sort of transformations or transmutations involved.

That left Balatu.

Of course, he thought. The Balatu order initially focused on healing, but that wasn’t all it was limited to. As he’d been taught in classes, healing was considered the restoration of life. Balatu mages could also take life away. There were no Balatu mages on Mannemid who could cast spells of that level, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist.

He had his answer.

Purattu had to be a High Mystic of the Balatu order. Unless he was an Archon. But what was the exact spell he had cast?

Xerxes resolved to ask Gandash as soon as he could.

Purattu was now strolling down the street as though he were out for a casual walk. After hurrying to catch up, Xerxes couldn’t help but look over his shoulder at the hulking Abhorrent, which was still visible over the rooftops. He could still hear its roars, as well as indistinct shouting. Who exactly was fighting the thing? Who had Purattu brought with him? Soldiers? Or other mages?

“You’re from here?” Purattu asked. “Like, this exact city?”

“Born and raised,” Xerxes said, turning his attention away from the fighting.

“Ever been off-planet?”

“Nope.”

“Well, you’re about to.”

Xerxes blinked. “Excuse me?”

Purattu stopped at an intersection and looked around. “Which way to the keep? Actually… you just lead. I’ll follow.”

“Oh, right. Um, this way.” He turned right.

“Anyway, I’m taking you away from this place. Orders from Sin-Amuhhu.”

“Sin-Amuhhu?” Xerxes had to work hard to make sure his jaw didn’t drop to his chest. He wasn’t an expert in the structure of the starsea any more than he was proficient regarding every aspect of magic. But he did know his basic geography, including the fact that Sin-Amuhhu was a starisle so high and distant he couldn’t even guess what it would be like to go there. As a brand new Sighted, he’d occasionally thought about what it would be like to go to such a location. But daydreams were daydreams.

Mannemid was a subsidiary starisle of Humusi. Humusi, in turn, was subsidiary to Ira. Ira was below Ku-Aya. And Ku-Aya was under Sin-Amuhhu. Xerxes’ home was literally worlds apart from that distant part of the starsea.

“You heard me,” Purattu said. “The Sin-Amuhhu Institute of Military Magic is recruiting. Or rather, conscripting. And you’re going there.” The young mage looked at him with a faint grin. “I guess that’s what happens when the Abhorrent invade. People such as yourself get a chance that most mages only dream about.”

“People such as yourself?” Xerxes echoed quietly, and it was only after the words left his mouth that he realized he’d been speaking out loud.

Purattu looked at him. “Mages from less- lower starisles,” he said. “That’s all I meant. Normally you can only get to top colleges by testing. Best of the best; that sort of thing. In this case, you’re getting a free ride. Look, I’m not the kind of person to beat around the bush, so I’ll just tell you straight up. I’m jealous.”

Xerxes looked at the young mage with his jewel-encrusted weapon, his garments made of fine cloth, and his various expensive-looking accouterments. As far as Xerxes was concerned, he didn’t look like someone who needed to be jealous of anything.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Purattu said. “I’m probably some stuck-up rich guy from a higher starisle, so what the hell do I know about being jealous? And… you’re probably right.” They had reached another intersection, and in this case, it led into a broad thoroughfare that went straight to the keep.

“I wasn’t thinking that…” Xerxes said, except even he could tell how insincere the words sounded, so he chuckled. “Ah, who am I trying to fool? Yeah. That’s pretty much what I was thinking.”

To his surprise, Purattu laughed, reached out, and clasped his shoulder. “I think I’m starting to like you.” With that, he stepped out into the street and started walking toward the keep. “I think I can figure out the way to go from here. Before we get there, why don’t you tell me who else on Mannemid I should take up to Sin-Amuhhu. Besides you. They only want Seers. Ones with potential.”

A muffled boom reached Xerxes’ ears from the direction of the fight with the Abhorrent, and he reflexively looked over. “What…?”

The giant creature was no longer visible above the buildings.

“It probably fell,” Purattu said. “Instant Death is a great spell name, assuming you cast it on people. It’s not exactly instant when used on giant monsters.”

Of course, Xerxes thought. How could he have forgotten a cool spell name like Instant Death?

“It’ll kill a High Mystic like me in a minute or less,” Purattu continued. “Even a High Archon won’t last for two. But a stage five juvenile Abhorrent, like that one back there, well… they have a lot more life in them, so it takes longer. Even before they actually kick the bucket, though, they’ll hit the ground and twitch for a while. Anyway, you were saying? About Seers?”