Sammy quickly organized efforts of preparation for the tower rising upon returning to her throne on Heavenpeak. The merfolk Current Changer Tenshai confirmed she had the capacity to handle the waves, and even seemed to understand the general magnitude, being familiar with the landmass that was under the water. Sammy did point out to expect a little more because the king had insinuated some parts were entirely hidden and buried in rock.

  Tenshai’s response was something like how a crafter might smile and pat a client on the back when they tried to talk about intricate details they ultimately knew nothing about. Her confidence was absolute.

  What she did need was a circle of mana providers, so Sammy corralled her ritualists to the task. They otherwise waited on the Itha Ranon wraiths to come through with their provision in that regard through Conductor. She was sure there was plenty of power between those two groups for the act.

  Once everything no longer needed her focus, Sammy materialized in Geirkos to retrieve the stone, already waiting in her study. It was sitting on a purple pillow on a table. She walked up to it and admired the pretty new shiny acquisition with a grin. It was about the size of a small bar of soap.

  As soon as she neared it, she felt both the power of it and the magnetic draw it had to the crown. They cried out to each other like echoes through lines of mana, pneuma, and spirit.

  “Who gifted this to us, by the way?” she asked Jeeves.

  “Highcaller and Archmagus Telliosin Da Kaitei of the Wydeia,” Jeeves answered. “With the additional words: ‘The Wydeia bless you and hope for fond dealings as allies to grow closer. In honor, we return this dryland salvage of old, preserved for untold ages — magical, mysterious, forged for unknown glories. May its beauty please you and rise up ancient inspirations.’ That is all.”

  Sammy narrowed her eyes. Rise up ancient inspirations? Hidden code or coincidence? “Let’s send a message that I look forward to speaking with… her? Him? As well as growing more knowledgeable about our allies, their leaders, their culture, people, and desires for Calrenazzod.”

  “So it shall be done, Madam. I don’t actually know the gender. Forgive me, Madam. An oversight, but I’ll check with our resident merfolk to clarify.”

  “No worries, Jeeves.”

  Sammy finally took up the blue diamond in her hands. The power she’d felt before magnified tenfold as a charge ran through her, as if she’d become a conduit for the connection between gemstone and crown. The magnetic draw became discernable pressure pulling in her hands.

  Laughing, Sammy guided the diamond into its slot on the crown atop her head. The energy built to a quick crescendo as it neared, finally intensified and concentrated more and more until it imploded as the stone locked into place. Her body as a conduit ceased to be and all of the bleeding aural effects were gone in a flash.

  Immediately, she felt the power of the islands off the coast, a distant mystical ringing in alignment with the crown. It was entirely out of focus and harmony where she was, the mana and focusing therein unusable.

  She cast an Identify effect to see if new information was available now.

  Acronym ‘DIVA?’ Ha! Welp, guess I’ll know all the mana stuff after raising the tower. Okay. Time to do this thing.

  Sammy Mirror Walked over the ocean as close as they dared to set up, then turned herself invisible and flew out the remaining distance. Servitors were already out ahead of her to scout from the sky, and the wizard groups were in position in between the islands and Geirkos.

  I wonder if the rival port of Itha Ranon was even where Geirkos is now. With the names lost, who knows?

  As she neared the islands, she began to feel where the focus of the crown was and sense the tower buried deep underneath, somewhere off the coast of the rocky isles nearby. The ruins were visible there, irregular dark stone structures scattered on the heights.

  She cast a cantrip to keep her clothes from getting soaked, then plunged into the sea. It wasn’t very far down before her capable eyes caught sight of the glittering city remains.

  While much was preserved and typical sea life completely avoided it, it wasn’t pristine anymore. It seemed to have deteriorated. Worse, she saw signs of rampant ancient damage, and could even make out big shattered rocks. In her mind’s eye, she beheld terrible siege damage. War had hit it hard before it was submerged. That made sense. The god-king in his final hours was half-mad, probably bent on his final acts to the exclusion of all else. His enemies could have taken advantage.

  Sammy flowed through the water more like she was flying than truly swimming, through [Matter, As Spirit]. The crown largely guided her to the precise, correct spot of alignment under the water, the resonance between tower and crown getting more and more attuned. Instead of being so jarring as it was in Geirkos, the aural effects were more and more pleasant, like faint music.

  Far below there was only sea bottom and hints of stone at a lower level than the city, but Sammy knew what it contained: the palace and the tower.

  She stopped on a dime as the music in her head reached relative perfection, and she fell into a kind of gravity well or magnetic lock. Here was the place. The crown was connected to a spell trigger that had just woken up and was ready to unleash. Untether.

  Samantha reached out to everyone involved mentally. “I’m in position. Are we ready?”

  “A circle of thirty-three is ready to contain,” Tenshai replied. “Mortal and immortal, material and immaterial, I have far more power and energy than I need, Your Majesty. The waters will be as gentle as a pond outside these islands.”

  “Perfect. We begin! Let Bright Tower rise again!”

  Through the crown of control, Samantha reached out to the spell trigger and activated it. A pulse shot through the water in a great radius. Everything underneath, stone and city and sandy bottoms, quivered and groaned.

  Samantha felt a tremendous, overwhelming strength connected between her and the structure — telekinetic strength enough to crack a mountain. She took hold of it and a greater groan began. Suddenly, she wanted her staff, so she summoned Foolmaker. Through it as a complementary focus, she lifted.

  She’d never felt anything quite like it. A great cacophony rang as what felt like an earthquake slammed upward into her. A little bit frightened, a whole lot exhilarated, she pulled up with all the might of her will. Sand, stone, and greater things below rose into increasingly cloudy waters.

  Samantha rose with it, as the magnetic point changed moment by moment, remaining suspended above. Mana swirled tremendously as vast flows began to change. Her magical senses became overloaded with input. A world of magic was converging into that place from every direction at once!

  A new nexus, the new energy of abundant creation, the new center of the world!

  She did not stop. She rose faster and faster, up, up, up. Below, stone warped and morphed and shifted where the tower was contained to let it free, and all else struggled to keep up with its rise. Stone cried — screamed. It broke and fell into a new, watery grave. She knew damage was dealt to that ancient city and particularly to the outer palace which was not made to handle it, but there was nothing for it. The land had declined and changed. It had sat too long.

  Furthermore, she couldn’t stop it. It was a runaway spell burning vast mana, it was a volcano bursting, it was a train crashing to heaven. She was simply blowing the whistle.

  An arrow could be seen within the cloud, though. Glowing gold, white below, untouchable, unstoppable, indestructible rising above the rest. The Bright Tower in truth.

  Samantha blasted up out of the water into a tumultuous sea, staff held up in one hand above her. In the distance, she saw the circle, and through her senses of magic, the intense glare of Tenshai at the center, directing flows of magic like a shroud running under the water and all the way around the islands. The water was entirely calm beyond this, tossing only inside the radius. Under her expertise, not even a merchant ship would get disturbed.

  Samantha rose and rose, and the spikey tower top finally crested above as if giving chase. Together, they rose and they pierced the sky, pierced the heavens like forging a new tunnel from the ground and sea to the highest realms. Like the currents below them, mana was a storm, a hurricane swirling around an eye. North, South, East, and West, the flows of magic were meeting.

  The goddess laughed in exaltation and victory, and the tower, humming and singing with power, made joyous sounds just the same. Together, they rose to the final peak; they soared.

  More and more structure became evident, spitting and cascading out with water. Rock underneath came up, enchanted stone caught in the spell holding together. Sadly, the rest of the palace structure and the walls never emerged.

  The greater mass of the city structure some distance away emerged, however, last to do so at a far lower level to the sea than the tower. Damaged, with much of it not making it, but some structures withstood the test admirably as water gushed out of halls, towers, and various tougher buildings. Rocky structure did connect to the existing large island with its other ruins by a narrow sliver.

  The final point arrived like a thunderclap as the rise finished and the spell ended, activating the tower and causing the magical equilibrium point to fall into the structure.

  A World Spell ended with it and a curse broke, causing an echo through the greater mana and pneumanic structure of Calrenazzod.

  “It is finished!” the goddess shouted as she thrust Foolmaker upward. “The Tower of Magic rises again!”

  Heh. Epic.

  Next Chapter...

  All around the wooooorld... we get some viewpoints. And then, check the new crib.

  Backers go here! Huzzah! Thank you! is a link to the claim thread for those who want a spot.

  Elias Blade, holding eternally the tarot of The Fool!

  Helva, holding eternally the tarot of The Hierophant!

  Gostsamo, holding eternally the tarot of Death (+ Binky)!

  DuB, holding eternally the tarot of The Moon!

  Guessed, holding eternally the tarot of The Magician!

  Some BS Deity, holding eternally the tarot of The Hermit!

  Silxornas, holding eternally the tarot of The Wheel of Fortune!

  Max, holding eternally the tarot of The Devil!

  IrateRapScallion, holding eternally the tarot of Justice!

  Quarter, holding eternally the tarot of The Hanged Man!

  Flight, holding eternally the tarot of The Star!

  Tempest42, holding eternally the tarot of The High Priestess!

  Venerable Ro, holding eternally the tarot of The Emperor!

  Koza0, holding eternally the tarot of The World!

  Forgotten Name, holding eternally the tarot of The Sun!

  Cothand, holding eternally the tarot of The Tower!

  T3iain, holding eternally the tarot of Judgement!

  Paul, holding eternally the tarot of The Chariot!

  Thorlab, holding eternally the tarot of The Empress!

  Renn, holding eternally the tarot of The Lovers!

  Xeo, holding eternally the tarot of Temperance!

  ObsidianShiv, holding eternally the tarot of the Seven of Swords!

  7CatRunes, holding eternally the tarot of the Queen of Swords!

  Nick, holding eternally the tarot of the Four of Pentacles!

  Hikari, holding eternally the tarot of Strength!

  Wiggles1, holding eternally the tarot of the Eight of Ships Pentacles!

  Nanominatour, holding eternally the tarot of the Ace of Wands!

  Kusoneko, holding eternally the tarot of the Queen of Cups!

  Revolgod, holding eternally the tarot of the King of Swords!

  Martin, holding eternally the tarot of the Ace of Cups!

  Tejing, holding eternally the tarot of the King of Cups!

  Renimus, holding eternally the tarot of the Eight of Swords!

  Grevias, holding eternally the tarot of the Ace of Pentacles!

  LobskiTheMagicLobster, holding eternally the tarot of the Ace of Swords!

  3X!3X, holding eternally the tarot of the King of Pentacles!

  Manlor, holding eternally the tarot of the Knight of Pentacles!

  Mage_Kikyou, holding eternally the tarot of the Queen of Pentacles!

  Captain Nuclear, holding eternally the tarot of the King of Wands!

  This_bored_guy, holding eternally the tarot of the Five of Cups!

  TeeCee67, holding eternally the tarot of the Six of Cups!

  Ronny, holding eternally the tarot of the Six of Swords!

  ArcH, holding eternally the tarot of the Two of Wands!

  Ambicatus, holding eternally the tarot of the Three of Wands!

  TheOneGunslinger, holding eternally the tarot of the Three of Swords!

  Captain_Sulsear, holding eternally the tarot of the Three of Cups!

  Dtape467, holding eternally the tarot of the Knight of Cups!

  Rosy Bramble, holding eternally the tarot of the Nine of Swords!

  TheDxve, holding eternally the tarot of the Seven of Cups!

  Riley, holding eternally the tarot of the Page of Wands!

  Volpol, holding eternally the tarot of the Ten of Swords!

  Thernn, holding eternally the tarot of the Queen of Wands!

  Spark, holding eternally the tarot of the Eight of Wands!

  ZelTheUnbroken, holding eternally the tarot of the Knight of Swords!

  Arrogantfitz, holding eternally the tarot of the Five of Wands!

  Lazifur, holding eternally the tarot of the Knight of Wands!

  GrimmRozen, holding eternally the tarot of the Five of Swords!

  Rainer, holding eternally the tarot of the Six of Wands!

  Kaylee, holding eternally the tarot of the Two of Pentacles!

  SlipJay, holding eternally the tarot of the Four of Swords!

  Talisman, holding eternally the tarot of the Four of Cups!

  Ant Mac, holding eternally the tarot of the Page of Pentacles!

  Taublatt, holding eternally the tarot of the Nine of Pentacles!

  Shattered, holding eternally the tarot of the Ten of Wands!

  IsacIW, holding eternally the tarot of the Two of Swords!

  Claire Rylander, holding eternally the tarot of the Seven of Wands!

  Zimmy, holding eternally the tarot of the Nine of Cups!

  Sarai, holding eternally the tarot of the Seven of Pentacles!