ULTRAMagic Prelude

Chapter 20

"Hmm..."

"Hmm?" Aureolus asked.

"Hmm indeed..." Blood-Wraith answered as he fiddled with the rubedo stone. "What should I craft with this thing?" He turned to his Alchemy book and began flipping through the pages.

"What about that one?"

Blood-Wraith stopped on a page detailing a complex procedure that would create a special glass that could see 5 seconds into the past or 5 seconds into the future. "Nah, too complicated for right now." He then closed the book. "Let's go outside for a bit."

Aureolus seemed surprised by this. "Can I go outside?"

"Yes? I take it you couldn't before?"

"Unfortunately."

Blood-Wraith took Aureolus by the hand and led him out the door. It was another nice day in the Iron City. The breeze was gentle, the sky was starry and sunny, and thunder could occasionally be heard from the clouds around the Singing Storm Tower. It was perfect for a walk and finding inspiration. Aureolus had to pause to take it all in for a moment. It was quite the experience, leaving the house for the first time. Interestingly this even had an effect on his body.

"Hey, I can see you now... sort of" Blood-Wraith pointed out.

Taking off his glove revealed that Aureolus now created a distortion effect when he was looked through. "Wow, you're right. I guess I definitely exist now."

The two began their walk with both of them taking note of their surroundings. Surely something had to be interesting enough to give them an idea. They visited the train station, of which they found fairly interesting. Its architecture was symmetrical and pleasing to the eye, having a classical, art-deco feel to it. Wandering through the emptiness was a little unsettling, but this was to be expected. There was an eerie tranquility because of this. Stopping at the out of date train schedule, both boys took a moment to study it. A glimpse into the past like this was very intriguing.

"Shadowland, The Uncity, and the Market District" Blood-Wraith read aloud. "I've been to the last one with my sister."

"I remember Milosh mentioning Shadowland on multiple occasions."

"Interesting..." Blood-Wraith then went over to the tracks and hopped down. "Wood and Iron here. What a fascinating design... uh-oh..."

"What's the matter?"

Blood-Wraith pointed to a spot in the tracks where the metal was cracked. "It's broken."

"Can you fix it? Would it cause any issues if you didn't?"

"Probably. It looks like the crack just needs to be mended. I'm not sure if it would cause an issue though... Then again, trains are pretty heavy."

"How heavy?"

"Heavy. We are talking impossible to lift heavy."

"I see. How do you plan to fix this?"

Blood-Wraith looked around until he found a rock the size of his hand embedded in the ground. "With this. There should be enough material here." He got to work setting the rock in place and focused. Sparks of energy erupted from his hand, causing a flash of light. "There we go!"

Aureolus studied the rail. It was a little messy, but looked like it would hold. "Very good, Blood. Was it as simple as it looked?"

"Yes... and no. The transmutation was simple, but you need to know what you're doing."

"Should we go around and look for more broken stuff?"

Blood-Wraith pondered this idea. It certainly would not hurt to do so. "Good thinking, Aureolus. Let's go grab some supplies first though."