*****
Valerian had agreed to attend the banquet but he stated that he would only stay there for one night and be gone soon after that.
Val appeared to be watching the healers came to the aid of the knights. Needless to say, his gaze made many uncomfortable but since Val did not make any verbal objections, the healers diligently yet cautiously continued with their work.
In truth, Valerian was not focused on them at all. He was paying attention to his own body. The spell that Oswald had used came from a magic system that Valerian was not familiar with and thus had no protections against.
Oswald's magic did not threaten his life. The magic system that the magus used was inferior and had flaws. Val could tell that the spell was hastily cast and the system was incomplete but regardless he was injured. The crux problem was that Valerian did not recognise the magic itself and thus could not decide how to protect himself against it.
Magic was simply a different kind of energy and thus magic systems could be seen as different types of methods and devices in which this specific energy could be harnessed, channelled and controlled.
As it is usually is when there are multiple methods, some tend to be more efficient than others, which would mean faster casting, stronger output or a more prolonged effect.
This also meant that one had to experiment with magic to create their own system. It took ages to craft, practice and refine a completely new magic system.
It meant diving into the wells of magic, trying to understand its cause and effect as well as the unwritten laws that governed it.
This was why Val had to talk to Oswald. A new magic system still drew power from the same wells of primordial origin but Oswald's magic did not follow that preordained path. In a way, it went against primordial magic and did not obey its laws.
Those with the ability could even learn how to bend those laws without breaking them and suffering the risk of a severe backlash in failure.
Oswald was definitely breaking the laws but he was still human. Even if the gods tempered with the world, there was no way for them to temper with magic of the primordial era. Even they could not access it.
Primordial magic was and it was not. It existed within time and space while also existing outside it. It could not be f*cked with.
Yet here was a human who was, due to lack of a better word, f*cking with the laws!
The only explanation was that Oswald was not messing around with primordial magic. These descendant and newer races were drawing power from a new source with less potent magic and a more laissez-faire attitude. Its laws behaved more like guidelines.
In Valerian's time, the chances of backlash were nearly null. His introduction to magic was from a creature born of magic and the laws of the world, Primordial dragons.
Before Valerian created his own system, the first he understood was the dragon's magic system which helped quadruple his fighting power.
But almost null was not the same as absolutely nothing. There were dragons that suffered from backlash and even the vampire progenitor had almost succumbed to it a couple times himself in his experiments.
Magic backlash ranged from magic practitioners exploding all the way to the worst case scenario, a practitioner losing control and the energy taking over.
A practitioner would absorb massive amounts of magic, more than their body could channel and if their desire and mental fortitude was too weak, the best they could hope for was a slow death, where their cells would eventually implode setting of a chain reaction throughout their entire body.
The most likely event would be their own desires and consciousness being erased, basically their soul, becoming apart of the magic itself, an energy being with no emotion to their previous identities, implanted with a new hive conscious while also attaining the ability to act as singular entities.
A mage who lost control would grant these beings a physical body that could exist in the mortal plane. They called themselves and became known as the Nefrit.
Back when the Crimson Empire was god and devil, standing tall and untouchable, the younger races that came out of the mud and muck had a physique and fortitude that made them natural practitioners of magic reducing the risk of creating more Nefrit.
Their mental fortitude came from the dangers and harsh conditions of the newly formed world they lived on. The world then had been that unstable.
Monsters were rampant and food was scarce. Their natural ability for magic was from the fact that magic was in the very air they breathed, the water they drank and the food they ate.
The world then and now, could be said to be two colossally different existences. One was a raging, active and hungry lion that ruled over all beasts while the other, a tame house cat that ate, slept and shat in that order, in rotation.
That is why the races of then and now were so vastly different. The humans and the races that accompanied them had grownup in a world that was comparatively peaceful so undoubtedly their affinity for primordial magic should be weak. A new source of magic, though implausible, was not impossible.
Looking at magic in a fixed and linear method was always considered wrong and arrogant. Understanding magic was more like a fluid methodology than a straight line. Only a fool or a mad man would believe themselves to have understood it all.
Valerian wondered how the teachings of magic differed from then and now. How Inanis was fairing? Had Valerian's blood made up for the boy's poor affinity for primordial magic? Perhaps it was time to check in on the lad.
However, talking to the magus Oswald was the priority.
He needed to build up a resistance to this new magic and use it to his benefit.
Valerian could be harmed by new magic systems because when he came into existence, he had no magic resistance at all.
It was due to his hard work and Enoch's substantial additions that made it possible to help him adjust his body with each evolution but the threat of new magic systems, new ways to channel magic, he would never be completely resistant. No one was except for the Nefrit.
It was one of Val's greatest humiliations to have fought a Nefrit and lost so greatly. No one knew the purpose of the Nefrit or their mission on the mortal plane. They appeared and disappeared with little to no trace.
Antagonising one was extremely hazardous to one's health and that was just another reason why Valerian could not take those gods seriously with their "divinity".
Gods could die but the Nefrit, the Nefrit were beyond understanding, time and space. That made Valerian certain that there were realms above even the gods. Whether it was beyond those divine spirits knowledge or simply their own ignorance mattered not.
The king approached Valerian.
"We will go to the palace now, Lord Valerian. Would you like to ride one of the pegasi we brought with us since I am sure the knights will not be able to ride them for a while?"
"No, thank you. Weak beasts are too timid around me after I display my auras even after I conceal it, my presence seems marred in the little minds."
As if to prove his point, Valerian walked toward the winged horses. Their eyes went wide, they unfurled their wings and threatened to took flight immediately scattering in different directions.
It would do well to know that a team of pegasi were well trained but instinctively followed their boss mare in flight, which was credited to that little bit of bird brain in them but to see them scatter like cockroaches did nothing for the king's pride. His stead, the boss mare itself, was the first to escape.
Valerian turned around with a sincere apologetic look on his face. He really was sorry though. He had really not expected the horses to fly away like a bunch of timid doves.
"I apologise. I really did not expect them to run off. Please, if any of them are harmed, retract it from the compensation I am owed." Valerian said and lightly bowed his head.
To the vampire a true noble was readily and able to admit his faults.
However, when the king saw this, he thought that Valerian was simply posturing as the strong often did yet in the eyes of the civilians gathered, Valerian's actions were exemplary.
'Hey, if that crude crown prince had shown that much sincerity would our kingdom not be in the situation it is now?'
'A powerful and high ranking noble actually bowed his head in apology but is it his fault that the country's horses are frightened little beasts?'
Thoughts such as this ran through the minds of those gathered. They turned their heads to the crown prince whose pants were still wet.
Their evaluation of him fell further in their eyes. It went from him being a national embarrassment to someone unfit of being a royal. Was he really the best candidate for the throne?
The king saw the dignity of the royal family fall again and even he looked at his son for the fist time with pure contempt.
'You provoked the devil but now the people see him as a saint and our family as trash.' the king thought but hoped to fix this issue as soon as he got back to the palace.
He cleared his throat.
"It is absolutely no matter at all." the King stated. "I can have more called over, it is no bother."
The well-breed horses that the crown prince arrived on were suitable for the children of the king but not the king himself. His family crest was the pegasus, he had not ridden on a wingless horse since his coronation.
"Our bank has a few carriages pulled by pegasi that may suit your Majesty." Alexander stepped forward, taking the opportunity to speak. "There is no need to wait for a runner and then the arrival of the next team of pegasi knights."
Seeing no other way, the King begrudgingly nodded with a smile that threatened to break his teeth. He turned to Valerian.
"Will Lord Valerian ride with us in the carriage?" The king asked.
"No, I think I will fly today." Val answered after some thought. "I feel the need to stretch my wings. Alexander will follow behind in a second carriage and I will follow you all to the palace."
Without waiting for a response, Valerian's wings showed themselves once again. Some instinctively stepped back. The winds cast by those things were terrifying. They did send fully armoured [A] ranked knights flying into building, after all.