Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

638 - Stronger Together

The greatest limitation of the divine authority that the Night Mare had given him, Lex knew, was its sixty-second duration.

While he could only grant so much power to Solvei – or any creature whom this power could affect – the variable nature of precisely how he could bolster her offered a vast array of possibilities. But those possibilities were sharply curtailed by the brevity of how long that power could be maintained. Even if he invoked the divine authority as often as he could, it wouldn’t have lasted for even fifteen minutes. That was enough time to deal with problems whose solutions could be implemented immediately, but was wholly inadequate for anything that required a more substantial commitment.

Lex, however, was used to dealing with constraints on the powers that he commanded. From the difficulty he still faced in recharging his thaumaturgical spellcasting, to the strain he put on his body whenever he physically overcharged his magic, to the limited quantities of black crystals he could create, his boundaries were something he had always been keenly aware of, but had never accepted. And while he’d come to appreciate the Night Mare’s advice about allowing others – not just ponies, he realized now, but creatures that he could dominate with her power as well – to act as extensions of his own strength, finding ways to push, circumvent, and overcome his own limits remained deeply ingrained in his personality.

As such, it had been deeply satisfying when Lex had discovered that, while the sixty-second restriction on what he could do with divine authority couldn’t be broken, it could be bypassed, albeit only indirectly.

What that meant was that, while the powers he granted Solvei via divine authority would only last for one minute, the effects of what she used those powers for would remain even after that duration expired.

That was no surprise, of course. Give her the strength to crush a boulder, and when that strength went away, the boulder would remain pulverized. Endow her with the power to rip a tree from the ground, and it would still be uprooted when that power dissipated. That much was obvious.

But the divine authority that Lex had been given was a piece of the Night Mare’s own godly essence. And as Lex knew from personal experience, as well as seeing it in others, that gods could do more than simply imbue mortals with powers. They could imbue them with magic – with spells – that could be used on others in turn.

Which meant that he could imbue Solvei with spells. Spells which, once cast, would have their effects remain even when the application of divine authority that granted them to her in the first place wore off.

That had been his theory, at least. The reality had been slightly different. Imbuing her with true spellcasting in the same manner that he utilized – thought-based constructs containing and shaping the requisite energy to make a particular effect happen when triggered via particular verbal and somatic components – was beyond what he could grant her. Not because his divine authority lacked the power to do so, but because such an arrangement would only have given her the ability to receive divine spells; actually granting them to her would have required at least an hour of mental preparation on her part, acclimating her thoughts to the power that would be placed inside them. Otherwise – without her being able to hold the mental frameworks in place – that power would have dispersed throughout her body, injuring her in the process, similar to how that disgusting hybrid that called itself Soft Mane had lost her eyesight when she’d received Lashtada’s favor without conditioning herself to it first.

But if Lex couldn’t grant Solvei the ability to cast true spells, he could do the next best thing.

The Night Mare had, after all, granted Fruit Crunch and his friends the ability to use magical abilities directly, without needing to utilize actual spellcasting in order to achieve them. Cleansweep could heal, for instance, while Straightlace could physically repel active spells, and Fiddlesticks had gained great strength. It hadn’t taken much examination on Lex’s part to realize that the goddess had done this by not only altering the magical pathways in their bodies, but imbuing those new pathways with the necessary energy to make use of them as well.

And if she had been able to do that for the Night Mare’s Knights, then it stood to reason that he could do the same for Solvei.

The first test had been granting her the ability to heal with a touch, the same as Cleansweep. To his delight, it had worked better than he’d expected; whereas the filly could only heal modest wounds, Solvei had been able to repair all of the damage his body had taken, leaving him completely revitalized. Naturally, that healing had remained after the sixty-second time limit had passed. But that hadn’t been the main reason that Lex had been so amazed.

The real source of his excitement had been that he hadn’t needed to chart out the full nature and scope of that power before granting it to Solvei. Whereas his thaumaturgical spellcasting, or a ritual, required that a mental blueprint be made in order to precisely measure how the necessary energy was being applied, divine authority required no such rigor. He simply selected what effect he wanted Solvei to be able to manifest, and the requisite channels spread throughout her body – without any sort of disruptions or injuries to her physique in the process – along with the necessary energy to make it happen.

It was the functional equivalent of how a god granted their worshipers divine spells, in other words: overwriting reality by sheer force of will.

Of course, the technique required a fairly significant amount of divine authority to enact. It was a two-step process, after all; he needed to imbue Solvei with the physical channels necessary to make use of the particular magical effect he wanted her to be able to manifest, and then grant her the necessary energy to make it happen. Those requirements meant that he couldn’t grant her magical effects of particular power or complexity – such as traversing the planes in order to get them back to Equestria – and that it was exceedingly difficult to grant her more than one spell-like ability at a time, but the versatility of the technique was still notable; all the more so since he only needed to concentrate on what he wanted her to be able to do rather than how she’d be able to do it.

It had been with that thought in mind that Lex had immediately moved on to the next experiment: imbuing Solvei with the ability to remove the blindness his magical senses had been afflicted with ever since the botched ritual back in Las Pegasus. The cure for that had been purely theoretical, since having an impaired sense of magic made it impossible to examine himself magically, but he’d at least been able to get a rough idea of what was needed.

Fortunately, that had been enough, and Lex was once again able to use magic to perceive the world around him.

That had been what had let him use his circlet to examine the outside of the winter wolves’ den for residual magic, trying without success to see if there had been a clue as to where Thermal Draft had been taken.

That had been what had allowed him to stride into the unlit cavern that Solvei’s kin called home, calling upon his dark magic to let him see in the pitch-blackness unhindered, something which the winter wolves could do naturally.

And that was why, as Ebbe charged him, Lex simply sneered at the creature’s inbound rush, ignoring Solvei’s frightened cry in favor of turning into a shadow the moment before her brother’s claws and teeth made contact with him.

To Lex’s mild surprise, he felt a slight impact as Ebbe’s wild slashes and sharp bites made contact with his immaterial self. That was unexpected. For these creatures to be able to potentially damage him even when he was in shadow-form – much like the dragon he’d fought outside of Tall Tale – meant that whatever mutations the Red Man had inflicted on them wasn’t purely physical; the magical channels in their bodies had grown as well.

But it didn’t matter. Between his defensive enchantments and the protective magic items he wore – which still functioned even in his incorporeal state – Ebbe’s strikes weren’t enough to actually injure him, and Lex glared down at the warped wolf. “Pathetic,” he announced coldly. “None of you have the power necessary to harm me.”

Whether from his pronouncement, or simply because they’d never seen anything like the form he’d taken, the winter wolves all stopped and stared at him, eyes wide and jaws hanging open. For a moment, silence reigned throughout the cavern, until at last Turid found her voice, bounding forward. “Sten, keep hold of Solvei! Ebbe, Kaja, follow my lead!”

Coming to a halt barely a dozen feet away from Lex, she took a deep breath as the latter two wolves fell in beside her, mimicking her actions. Off to the side, Solvei had resumed struggling, but Sten was stubbornly refusing to release her, the prehensile nature of his fore-claws giving him an advantage in grappling. For his part, Bolverk simply smirked, reaching up to scratch his neck with one claw idly.

Lex took in the scene impassively, deciding that there was no need for him to take action. Conserving power for when he confronted the Red Man was still a priority, which meant that there was no need for him to react to what Turid, Ebbe, and Kaja were about to do…

A moment later all three winter wolves exhaled harshly, and their breath was a blizzard.

The rush of air was heavy enough that it filled the cavern with a howling shriek. Frost immediately covered the ground, spreading across the front of the den while hailstones the size of marbles clattered as they hit the cavern floor. Despite having no physical body at the moment, Lex could still feel the temperature in the cavern plunge as a result of the trio’s combined attack, a testament to the magical nature of their breath weapon.

But the intense cold bothered him not at all.

Utterly predictable.

Solvei had used this same attack against him when he’d first met her. It had injured him seriously then, when he’d been completely unprepared for it. But things were different now. In his shadow-form, magical cold – like most other supernatural powers – had only limited ability to harm him.

The protection provided by his incorporeal nature was further bolstered by the fact that he’d used one of the few divine spells that the Night Mare gave him on himself before entering the den. Specifically, one that allowed for the recipient to shrug off a certain degree of damage from various applications of energy, chosen when the spell was cast. It was the same spell he’d used to protect Thermal Draft – along with Cloudbank, Comfy Cozy, and Pillowcase – from Aria’s fireball back when he’d rescued them in Vanhoover, save that at the time he’d used it to ward against heat, and this time he’d set it to resist algidity.

Ignoring the frigid attack, Lex turned his attention toward where Solvei was still struggling to free herself from Sten. Even as he watched, the smaller wolf leaned her head down, sinking her teeth into his foreleg and twisting her head sharply, wrenching his claw away from her. But as soon as she opened her jaws – moving her head to where his other claw was still clutching her – he put his claw back where it had been a moment before, not letting her free herself from his grasp.

With a sigh, Lex called upon the innate telekinesis that all unicorns possessed, taking hold of Sten’s claws. Although he didn’t have anywhere near the strength necessary to break the creature’s grip, that wasn’t the point. Rather, the point was the roiling aura that surrounded the wolf’s lower appendages then, causing Sten to gasp in shock at the sight, body going rigid with alarm as he stared at the alien sight surrounding his front legs.

Solvei – who had seen his telekinesis more than once during their time together – didn’t miss her chance, rearing up and pulling herself free of Sten. From her current position, she had a clear shot at Bolverk, but instead of taking it she faltered, looking at where her remaining family was just finishing unleashing their freezing breath at Lex. “Are you alright?!”

Although it didn’t show outwardly, Lex frowned. “I’m fine!” he snapped, irritated. He’d told her that his magic would protect him if they tried this, so why was she hesitating?! “Get Bol-”

That was when Bolverk yanked his claw away from his neck sharply, pulling his foreleg back before bringing it forward in a throwing motion.

And then the cavern was engulfed in fire.

Author's Note:

Lex reveals how he's been able to recover from his injuries – physical and otherwise – thanks to Solvei, only for Bolverk to make his move!

What sort of weapon is the winter wolf alpha using that lets him attack with fire?

Comments

[Firefoxino]

He back yay

[Not so New Brony]

Welcome back, hope you enjoyed yourself.

But the intense cold bothered him not at all.

Feels like an invite to insert a particular song from a certain movie

Anyways, Divine Authority, even with its limitations, is pretty strong in its utility inside and outside of combat. Especially if he can heal himself and remove the affliction on his magical senses like that Well, so long as he has a sapient creature to carry it out on his behalf. Hmm, wonder if it works on those who are subservient to him...

As for Bolverk's weapon, I'm guessing it's an enchanted amulet that lets him cast fire magic that was somehow hidden under what remains of the fur on his neck. Though regardless of whether or not it's an amulet, the fact that its effects is likely nothing to scoff at.

[Alzrius]

10987414 Glad to be back!

[Alzrius]

10987416 Thanks for welcoming me back!

Feels like an invite to insert a particular song from a certain movie

If anyone thinks that reference wasn't completely coincidental, I say only this: let it go.

All joking aside, the divine authority that the Night Mare bestowed on Lex is a markedly powerful ability, one that he's just now realizing is far stronger than he ever gave it credit for. He's still exploring the full breadth of what it can do, and it's already fixed a lot of his more immediate problems. But it also requires magical beasts in order to make use of, which is sort of the point: Lex has repeatedly hit the limit for what he can do alone, so it's very apropos that his goddess has given him a power that can only be used in conjunction with commanding others, even if they are the monsters that her religion is famous for commanding.

As for what Bolverk is using to attack Lex and Solvei now...you're thinking along the right lines. I wonder if anyone will figure out precisely what it is before the reveal (which will probably be in the very near future)?

[Booster Spice]

In a realm of frost resistant, the fire breathing dragon is king. As long as their fire is greater than the cold?

[Alzrius]

10988177 That one works both ways. Creatures with the [cold] subtype are immune to cold damage, but take +50% damage from fire-based attacks. Likewise, creatures with the [fire] subtype are immune to fire damage, but take +50% damage from cold-based attacks. So since winter wolves have the [cold] subtype, a fire-based attack is very damaging to them; hence why it's Bolverk's secret weapon, presumably (though the rest of the pack is "mutated" in ways that might affect that, since it's been alluded to previously that their current state makes them less vulnerable to fire).

Now the only question is what Bolverk's actually doing.