Day 81st, Year 8:

  Mister Guildenstern and Miss Sauvant’s delivery of the key marks a crucial step forward in advancing my goal. Years of locating the works of scholars that were doomed to be remembered as heretics. A significant amount of funding that would have allowed me to expand my armed reach. All that time sorting the necessary information from the myths. This is the fruit I have waited for all those efforts to bear. I shall take utmost delight as I decode the secrets.

  Legends say these tomes have a different means of transferring knowledge. This method was, of course, created out of desperate times when enemies were known to attack feeble minds and manipulate memories. The challenges of the ways of the ancient scribes are truly impressive.

  Preparations for this day are finally going to be put to use. The transcription engines needed to move this knowledge from this arcane medium to print are set. There will be no mistakes. I expect to write a new entry shortly after this when the secrets the First Empire chose to bury are laid bare before my eyes.

  For Halona, and also to all the unfortunate victims of what I had to do to achieve this, may you receive this success as my atonement.

  ????

  The desk was ready: at the center of machinery with lights that looked like eye stalks was the green gem and its copper-colored receptacle. Tomes that contained symbols instead of script lay open on his worktable. They were once scribes, monks, and even explorers who attempted to translate the ancestral language. An empty book lay flat below the other texts; beside it was a pen, whose ink bore a faint metallic scent that clambered out of the bottle.

  On another side of a long table rested maps of what looked like the Empire’s naval domain, two towns, and a city. Three large bowl-shaped lamps worked with the Gray Fox when he approached the desks. This projection of a book had no pages. A humorous application: the image of the open book had to be seen before anyone could begin to read what this old record contained. There was fun to be seen in absurdity – even in the middle of an event that threatened the foundations of the empire in its infancy.

  The Gray Fox did not need ceremony to begin. He sat down and wore a headpiece, a crude-looking crown with blunted spikes around it. Above this arrangement was an array of diodes, each half the length of a human finger. A touch on the crystal, and the unnatural green glow occupied much of the table. It gathered on the same spot as a solid yet pale presence; spots of light floated and became more solid until the form of an open tome was made. He smelled oil coursing through the thin copper pipes that brought his devices to life. Filaments that stuck out of the box-shaped mechanisms moved into place and hung above the immaterial book in eight directions.

  A dance of symbols took place, which his machine responded to with blinking lights from the extended attachments. Parts of the device that held the lights whirred and squeaked as they moved from one point to another. There was a flash for each symbol that jumped from the book of solid light. The Gray Fox wished for a less-distracting process, but there was no other way to extract what he needed. He could only read this ‘book’ through the use of images formed sequentially in his mind. The process was mechanical, yet arduous for someone bound to a chair for a long period. It required concentrating with eyes closed, remembering the sequence of symbols, then referring to the previous studies in case he was unsure of something. His writing hand picked up one of the pens and opened the books of the scribes. The crime lord’s progress started with a handful of words.

  “Summoning consumes… the force… True Magicians… greater abilities… open the dimensions. A circle… needed for the process.”

  True Magicians have long waned in existence, and even their very origins were still a question to many of Kriemreich’s scientists and mage-scholars. It was to his surprise, and perhaps sheer luck, that he managed to gain the services of someone like Gerhard Guildenstern to his employ. The Gray Fox’s thoughts came to that other magician whose face was a shadow recorded by the construct squad it destroyed during the incursion at Altrecht. Could that person be, like Gerhard, someone who has mastered the arcane arts? He stared at the wall for a few moments before his head was pulled back to the clean sheet of paper he was working on.

  “The summoning arts… unpredictable. Magic used… uncontrollable… summoning more powerful beings… much magical energy… to this world.”

  He continued switching from the text to the translations, figuring out which scribe’s work could effectively describe the relic’s contents, although they were from three generations of families who worked in making the lost language known to the present, they seemed to have stark contrasts in terms of other facets of converting the knowledge.

  His ‘reading’ continued, or rather, his imagination was trying to make concrete forms of images that the artifact was parsing to his mind. Every new or unfamiliar word the syndicate leader came across brought his eyes to one of the books, but these were beginning to be less often with each ten minutes that passed as he dug deeper through this trickery of light.

  “How convenient.” His pen stopped leaving lines on the paper when the crime lord came across the drawing of the summoning circle. “The principles used here are indeed identical to the dimensional tear machines I have devised at the Schweiglands. If the aid of this summoning circle can augment the capacity of the rift cutters, the possibility of attracting more powerful beings is greater in respect.”

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  A drawing of the circle being used was presented when the syndicate leader reached near the middle of the book. The summoning circle used the energy and magical energy of the magicians to both tear the reality and draw the creatures to the source. Whatever monster that appeared from the rift was, in turn, caught by the awaiting soldiers gathered outside the circle.

  The Gray Fox spent the next few minutes thinking of what machinery he could use to replace the major components of the summoning rites. He could not risk getting Gerhard involved, for he doubted that he was aware of the processes used in the knowledge. That other magic-user was out of the equation, since he would have to deal with the probability that he was still out there biding his time to strike. Their combined essences would not be enough to match what was needed should he have had both of them cooperate with the project.

  “As long as the circle is present, the summoners can be replaced with reactors that would create the link to activate the circle…”

  A circle was drawn with seven points on it – six of them were outside, surrounding the central seventh. The Gray Fox began writing in smaller letters, indicating the locations of the magical energy extractors. Beneath his diagram were more writings:

  “The estimated magical capacity of an average magician never went beyond a fifth of the First Tier of Vis. There were no means to gauge that of the True Magician, but I would safely deduce that fifty times that of the average magical learner would have been the capacity of each. No, maybe a hundred would be enough for an added touch. This means that the magical energy batteries and the absorbing crystals should be no smaller than three meters high with an above normal speed of converting environmental essence into a liquid state.”

  He was not bothered much by the availability of the vessels; those were long-prepared, and all those machines needed were the crystals that would draw the earth’s energy to the converters. A shipment will be due in five days, and from there, he could quickly have the reactors assembled and ready in a span of two days. There were other details of the summoning rites written on the following pages:

  “A catalyst… used… greater beings. Process… still uncertain… there are… monsters… could be drawn using… living or nonliving sacrifices.”

  “Perhaps it would be best if the first attempt were to draw out a more powerful entity, but with the wit similar to, or ideally, greater than that of the rocky beast that was brought forth back at the Schweiglands. This means to call forth such brutes may need magical energy extracted from living matter to be used as catalysts.”

  “There are two issues to creating a wide enough summoning circle without getting unwarranted attention from the Empire’s soldiers. First, a suitable enough area needs to be cleared and contained before the equipment needed can be brought to bear. Second, the demonstration will be felt by those with magical senses. Guards would have to be planted at areas near enough to provide surveillance and far enough not to be detected by whatever beast will be brought to the world by the dimensional gateway.”

  The forest should provide enough cover, the crime lord thought. He pulled out a map of the Antikwald drawn by his cartographers a few weeks ago. He chose a spot that leaned nearest to the center of the forest, where the ruins of a hidden fortress lay undisturbed. The spot was perfect for such a setup: no trees needed to be cut down, and there was a wide-enough space to set all of the devices without having to wait too long for them to be readied.

  “The magical energy source would be provided by the surrounding vegetation, which takes several minutes to charge before the crystals can gather enough of its energy to draw their full capacity in a single sequence. Opposition in the form of scouts, particularly from the Imperial City of Aurelburg, may be encountered; thus, the need for Mister Norton’s services to ensure the security of the experiment.”

  “I am yet to determine what kind of abomination I will call forth from this. Another issue that would arise would be on how to capture this creature and make full use of its potentials. But no doubt I can bring it to heel using most of the resources found in my facilities and arsenals.”

  The Gray Fox broke off from the ancient book’s information and went to his journal. Beneath his notes were written:

  A stunning development indeed: the old summoning arts used many of the principles found in the dimensional tear devices I developed. I did not expect that this arcane, cultish process to have so few complications compared to what I have developed so far. All that remains is to test the setup, and from there, I can continue working on the rest of the text to find out how to bring forth the miracle that saved the Old World from destruction. Converting that miracle into something I can wield is the next step, and I have uncovered little of what this ancient record possesses.

  Ironic it may be that history hid this dark past from its people. I shall put this neglected knowledge to use and prove to this world once and for all that determination and proper use of this power will yield a true solution to this world’s problems. From this power, new things will be developed, and I shall be the one who will guide all.

  There were knocks on the door, followed by the entry of a man in khakis. He made a slight bow before addressing the Gray Fox and saying:

  “A report from the observers.” A few sheets of paper were handed to the crime lord.

  “I do not have the time nor energy to read that. A summary, will you please?”

  “The batch of creatures released into the forest has been destroyed. There is also a presence of Imperials at the western edges, where many of the remains were found.”

  They were the same monsters used to observe their aggression and fighting behavior against the prisoners from before. The Gray Fox ordered a pair of machines placed in the forest with the intent of observing how the released creatures interact with the local wildlife. Their numbers, speed, and strength would be too much for any of the local predators.

  “Destroyed? Carcasses? How?”

  “We do not know what took place.” The man shook his head. “Our scouts reported that there was significant damage to the area. It was probably from an interloper.”

  “Visuals? Photographs?”

  “I’ll have them readied in an hour.”

  The Gray Fox removed his decoding headpiece and watched as his aide left the office. He sat down and stared at the brilliant mass pretending to be a book. He would have to continue deriving the rest of the artifact's contents some other time.