[Short Story] Seer Didn't See It Coming (Patreon)

Magic is a funny thing. Take invisibility as an example. To the rest of the world, it is as if light is traveling through the invisible person and yet, despite everything we know about how light works, they can still see.

For most people, this is a relatively vague thing that even the magic users casting the spell don’t care about. After all, sometimes magic decides to agree with you when you realize what it is doing is impossible. Believe hard enough that you shouldn’t be able to see while invisible? Magic will oblige you.

This sort of conundrum affects many aspects of magic, though the one I care about is a little close to home. Seerers, my chosen profession. Everyone is always asking you to scry some places or another, but angry when they don’t get to personally see the results.

Sure, if you’re a king or large merchant you can pay for a mind crystal with the right enchantments so that you can directly view things. Anyone else, though? Hah, good luck with that.

So yeah, kingdoms and such would keep a pocket seerer around. Leaves the rest of us in a lurch, though. Especially since, just like with invisibility, it is one of those “you can see it, but others can’t”. It also goes in the same direction where magic will be perfectly fine with making it so you can’t see it either.

Lurching intensifies! Except I’m sort of a genius. Don’t like to toot my own horn, but I scored pretty high in the illusionary arts in secondary school.

Was lined up to get the illusionary bard class. That’s right, A dual archetype class! I’m sure you already know how rare those are, so I won’t bore you. Anyway, I totally would have gotten the class if I hadn’t spent a little too much time trying to bypass the scry ward on the *cough* other changing room.

That was purely because of how complex the ward was. No other reason. Anyway, apparently magic decided that all my work should be rewarded and so gifted me the seerer class.

Not that I couldn’t go on and use illusion magic! I’m still totally amazing at it. Except without the Mana discount from a class, you can’t really do large scale or complex illusion for any decent period of time.

None of that matters anymore, of course. I’m rich now! And popular! Everyone knows my name as long as magic touches their lands and merchants have a trade route to them.

Hah! Shows that old b... lady in school! Said I wouldn’t ever amount to anything and here I am with one of the most valuable patents as well as a super popular react channel.

Can’t believe no one ever made the connection before. With invisibility, of course, there are a thousand and one ways to pierce the illusion. Nothing would be secure if someone could just wander in without being seen.

Of course, those solutions don’t let you see what a seerer does, they’re different effects. Except they’re not. Not really.

Like I said, I’m a genius when it comes to illusions. Invisibility is an illusion spell which creates two effects. The more expensive bit, which makes the target illusionary to light. Then the part that costs so little it can be run off of environmental mana, a simple targeted illusion that mimics what you would see and can only be seen by the target.

Not that any quality invisibility spell does run it off environmental mana as that could be detected. Anyway, that last part is actually nearly duplicated in any scrying spell with a visual component. In fact, there are similar bits for all potential senses, though sight and sound are the most popular.

Anyway, it’s an illusion, right? And part of invisibility is that it duplicates visible light to make invisible light, why not reverse it? Remember though, I’m a genius. Others have tried in the past, but I succeeded!

So invisible light gets copied into visible light. That’s my patent. On an individual scale, it means anyone can now view what a seerer is seeing.

In other news, I also made a killing by investing in a popular scry ward producer. Anyway, I wasn’t the only one to benefit. Some company owned the patent for a scry screen. A niche item that even though it could cast a scrying spell, did nothing as only the caster can see what is being scryed.

It was originally only useful as a scrying focus as having it enchanted with a scrying spell made it easier to cast scry on it. Now though? They sell like hotcakes!

Anyway, this led to a ton of people becoming famous. Bards popping off left and right by using targeted scry anchors to broadcast their performances. At that point, I was already rolling in the gold and laughing at them, so I decided to broadcast that.

Guess what? People like that stuff! So now I sit around all day and bag on random newbs. Millions of people tune in to my anchor every day!

Heh, there is going to be a high level adventurer streaming their first attempt at a newly discovered dungeon, sight unseen. Idiot. I went and scryed that dungeon. The natural wards are nothing like around a bathroom and I easily got a peek.

That adventurer is going to be dropped into a replica of a sewer, one in active use with all the nastiness you would expect. I’m going to have so much fun bagging on them!

*Click*

A lawyer turns towards the judge, “And that your honor is the last recorded footage we have of the deceased besides the aforementioned stream. His stream was clearly intent on besmirching my clients honor.

“While my client, Jay the Feathered Stalker, did indeed stream the event himself, it was done with tasteful filters. The deceased, on the other hand, illegally stripped those filters off the stream and even went as far as to include smell for certain segments.

“My client does not deny that he killed the man. However, despite what the deceased’s wealth might have afforded him in life, it does not permit him to infringe on the honor of someone with an ascended class.”

The other lawyer frowns, “Objection! While the honor of the ascended is an unwritten rule, it is still unwritten. We aren’t asking for too much. My client simply wants his resurrection fees paid for by his murderer.”

Off to the side Jay the Feathered Laughs, “Why would I pay for something I’m just going to undo? The smug twerp cheaped out and only bought the most basic resurrection package.

“One extra life? Bet he thought that would give him enough time to buy another. I’m going to prove him otherwise.”

The judge coughs, “Well, it sounds like we can simplify this then. Jay, do you swear that you will do all you can to kill the deceased should that state of being be reversed?”

Jay nods, “I’m not above the law, but the idiot isn’t above consequences.”

The judge turns to the first lawyer, “And your client has a family who can inherit his properties?”

The lawyer nods, “That he does.”

The judge smiles, “Then I declare that in favor of saving precious resources the deceased’s resurrection is canceled.”

The lawyer interrupts, “That does not serve my clients best interests!”

The judge snorts, “Well, maybe he should have moved to one of the freer countries. Resurrection components are a tactical resource of great rarity and so in my duty to represent the countries’ best interests, we are denying his use of them.

“However”, and the Judge turns towards Jay, “You sir are still going to pay for them as well as a lump sum payment to the deceased’s family. While I respect your right to honor, if you don’t have to pay for it we’ll just end up in the dark times again.”

Jay shrugs, “Sure, coins aren’t really all that important, anyway.”

The judge laughs, “Oh no, you won’t be paying cash to the family. If the rich and powerful can just pay their way out of punishment, we don’t actually have laws anymore. Just price tags on what you can do.

“We aren’t like those corporation-run countries. No, you have to pay in favors and rare materials. You’re going to help get his sister into the royal academy and scrounge up some talent enhancers for her. That and find both his parents both a fertility pill to replace him and lifespan enhancers equal to at least fifty mortal years apiece so they have the time to raise that replacement.”

Jay screams out, “That’ll ruin me! It will take at least a hundred years to make that all up and only if the damn academy actually calls in their favor! No way I’ll p”

The Judge taps his gavel, forcefully silencing Jay. “You don’t have a choice. Next case!”